Green Bay Visitor Center Project Could Get Money From New State Fund

ASHWAUBENON – The Green Bay area could finally have a visitor center to welcome tourists and promote northeastern Wisconsin, with new public funding announced Tuesday by Governor Tony Evers.

During a visit to the Hinterland Brewery near Lambeau Field, Evers said he plans to set aside $ 10 million of Wisconsin money from the US federal bailout for infrastructure improvement spending related to it. tourism. Regional groups can apply for up to $ 3.5 million for a single project, and Evers expects the money to be allocated this fall.

“We know that when we invest in our tourism it pays off,” Evers said. “Our goal with these funds is not only to ensure that Wisconsin’s tourism industry continues to recover, but also to ensure that it builds a strong future for the industry.”

Local tourism and city leaders say they still need $ 2 million to build the visitor center near Interstate 41 and Lombardi Avenue, but have struggled to secure funding from the Status for the project.

Tourism officials have expressed satisfaction with the industry’s recovery in 2021 after the coronavirus pandemic slashed visitor spending in Wisconsin in 2020.

Discover Green Bay CEO Brad Toll said it will likely take years to return to pre-pandemic levels, making capital investments in projects like the Green Bay Area Visitor Center vital. The $ 6.5 million building would help boost tourism spending in the Green Bay area and across the state, he said.

“This is an opportunity to move our project forward as well as other projects in the state,” Toll said of the visitor center plan. “We’re ready to go. It’s just a matter of having the funding in place to move forward.”

Discover Green Bay, the regional marketing agency formerly known as the Green Bay Convention and Visitors Bureau, lobbied the state to provide the remaining $ 2 million needed to build a visitor center for 12,500 square feet since 2018, when it first announced the plan.

The fundraising request had the backing of elected Republican and Democrat members of the region, but became political football in Madison. Evers included funding for the visitors’ center in an earlier budget, but it was cut by Assembly Republicans. The State Assembly approved a bill in February 2020 to loan the money to Discover Green Bay, but it was not taken up by the State Senate.

Evers frequented the Green Bay area last month, with a third stop on Tuesday. On July 14, he announced $ 130 million in US bailout funding for regional workforce development initiatives. And on July 8, he hosted a press conference at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay after signing the state’s biennial budget.

Contact Jeff Bollier at (920) 431-8387 or [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter at @GBstreetwise.