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Visitor
Centers
In 1996, the
Lab Team established the
demonstrative Blackstone Valley
Visitor Center. The Visitor
Center project transformed an
abandoned department store to a
12,000 square foot thriving
center for tourism in 1999.
Today, the Center continues to
serve as a public transportation
hub, travel resource center,
educational theater, gift shop,
art gallery, and the offices of
the Sustainable Tourism
Laboratory.
Members of the Lab also played a
significant role on the design
committee for the Blackstone
River State Park Visitor Center
located along I-295 in Lincoln.
Visitor Services for the Center
have been managed by the Tourism
Council since its opening in
2006. This was and continues to
be a partnership with our State
Department of Environmental
Management.
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The
Educational Vessel Blackstone
Valley Explorer
The Explorer
was designed and built by the
Tourism Council in 1993. It is a
49-passenger vessel, providing
environmental and heritage tours
of the Blackstone River. The
Explorer has carried over
375,000 passengers since its
construction.
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Blackstone
Valley Scenic Railway Tours
Taking
advantage of New England’s
beautiful autumn foliage, these
scenic rail tours consist of an
excursion along the Blackstone
River Valley in CT, MA and RI
which includes working with
Putnam Ct and their Autumn City
Festival.
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Blackstone
Culinaria - Secret Ingredient
Tour
The Secret
Ingredient Tour highlights a
local restaurant every Wednesday
evening with a cooking
demonstration which includes a
specially prepared dinner. This
event showcases the wide variety
of culturally diverse
restaurants in the Blackstone
while supporting local
businesses on a slower dining
night. The Blackstone Culinaria
Secret Ingredient Tour is
routinely popular with residents
and visitors.
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The Polar
Express Rail Excursion
Based on the
popular children's Christmas
story, the Blackstone Valley
Polar Express was developed in
1999. With the support of the
book's author, Chris Van
Allsburg, the Lab team created a
90 minute family holiday
experience. This program for
families includes a reading of
the book, a visit from Santa,
caroling and hot chocolate. Due
to the popularity of the tour
each year, the program is
usually sold out - generating an
annual revenue of $120,000.
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Rhode
Island Chinese Dragonboat Races
and Taiwan Day Festival
Held each
September as a signature event
of the Pawtucket Arts Festival,
the event brings together the
Chinese and the Taiwanese
communities to celebrate their
cultural heritage. The program
stages 40 races each day and the
event draws 10,000 to 15,000
people – when the sun shines!
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The
British Canal Boat Samuel Slater
It was
designed by the Tourism Council
in England and brought to the
States in 1999 as a Blackstone
Valley Millennium celebration
exhibit. It tours the Blackstone
River and serves as a Bed and
Breakfast for overnight guests.
It is the only British Canal
Boat in North America and was
brought to this country for a
total project cost of $275,000.
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Blackstone
Valley Detours In
2005 Laboratory staff developed
the "Blackstone Valley Visitor
Detours". These self-drive tours
are produced in 14 themes. They
provide articulated tour routes
for visitors to locate thematic
places and stories. This was a
cost-effective program which
cost less than $1,500 to print
and develop each tour.
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Providence
to Pawtucket Ferry
In 1999 the Lab partners
launched the Providence to
Pawtucket Ferry Service with
their commercial partner Conway
Gray Line of Rhode Island. The
program operated under a
$1,000,000 demonstration grant
from the USDOT. The project
built two, 49 passenger ferry
boats to connect the two cities
and the program operated for
four years.
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Sustainable Tourism Planning and
Development Laboratory
Three times per year, the Lab
organizes and hosts forums,
conferences or summits. These
gatherings are dedicated to the
advancement of tourism learning
and the teaching of sustainable
and successful tourism
practices. The conferences
feature the facilitated outreach
café discussions that are used
to incorporate public input into
tourism plans. In addition, the
lab provides consulting services
to government agencies in
developing strategic and tourism
plans.
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Footsteps
in
History
The Laboratory, with the
National Park Service and the
Blackstone Valley Chamber of
Commerce in Massachusetts,
developed an open house for 150
cultural heritage sites along
the Blackstone Valley National
Heritage Corridor between
Worcester, MA and Providence,
RI. This program attracted the
attention of Preserve America
and First Lady Laura Bush
presented a check for $125,000
to support Footsteps in History
for a two year period. We would
like to use our experiences to
maximize the benefit of
Peekskill’s current Preserve
America program. |
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