GOTL celebrates renovated visitor center with open house
May 2—GENEVA-ON-THE-LAKE — The Monday morning open house of the renovated Geneva-on-the-Lake Visitor Center drew a crowd of public officials and groups with an interest in advancing tourism in the region.
The building was completely renovated after a portion of it was used as a greeting place for tourists for many years but without a lot of resources.
A new partnership between the village and the Ashtabula County Convention and Visitor's Bureau has changed that.
ACCVB Executive Director Stephanie Siegel said the village is renting the building to the bureau for $1 a year and it will be staffed seven days a week from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. from now until October.
Siegel said the Geneva-on-the-Lake Convention and Visitor's Bureau paid for the renovations that opened the building to be not only a welcoming center but also a store.
A colorful mural on the side of the building greets visitors with a beach feel and ACCVB employees will be using a golf cart to greet visitors. There will also be opportunities for children to earn prizes, Siegel said.
Siegel said there will be a variety of unique products for sale at the center. Flip-flops with a GOTL design will brand the ground wherever they are used in the sand.
"It is all very local," she said.
A tiny fan also lights up with a GOTL message.
"We are trying to create a beach-time vibe," Siegel said.
Politicians and community leaders from the village, county, Conneaut and Ashtabula attended the event on Monday and a food truck provided was available for attendees.
Geneva-on-the-Lake Mayor Dwayne Bennett was one of the leaders in attendance and was excited about what the cooperative venture means for the future.
"This is a long time coming," Bennett said.
He said it is the next step in the village's growth. He said cleaning up the village and adding infrastructure opened up the possibilities for the next step.
"It is just an 'add on' for the village," Bennett said.
GOTL Village Administrator Jeremy Shaffer said a complex system of following tourism patterns through a variety of channels indicates the village had 2.2 million visits last year and an estimated 700,000 to 800,000 "unique" visits.
"We beat Put-in-Bay by a million," he said.
Don Woodward, who has spent his life developing the village, was shocked to see how the renovations turned out.
"I couldn't be happier. It's going to be great," he said.
Siegel said Jennifer Downey, tourism manager, will spend the summer working at Geneva-on-the-Lake and other staff members will rotate in and out during the summer. She said there are also part-time employees who will fill out the schedule.
Downey is happy to be filling the role.
"I'm so excited just getting to interact with all the people and the business owners," she said.
