Chamber reopens visitors center

SANDPOINT — Associates of the Greater Sandpoint Chamber of Commerce have a new view to enjoy.

After several weeks of hard work, the visitor center is ready to greet Bonner County guests at the former location located on Highway 95 near Sand Creek. The current downtown location will remain open for the next few months while work continues in preparing offices for the full move in the fall or winter.

“We’re really excited to have the visitors center open and start greeting people out there,” chamber associate Mack Deibel said. “We’re really fortunate to be open this early in the season.”

Ever since the renovation project kicked off, the priority was to get the visitor center up and running first. That’s because the location works far better to accommodate incoming tourists.

Since the building is easily visible from the highway, tourists can stop by as they drive into town, whereas previously, they were redirected by a sign to the downtown location.

“There was really no telling whether they would actually come downtown or not,” Deibel said.

Thanks to hours of donated labor and materials, the Highway 95 visitor center looks better than ever with an updated design and granite countertops. The scenery surrounding the property is another big improvement. In addition, the facility is a lot more comfortable with the installation of new heating and air conditioning unit. According to Deibel, the old setup would have yielded an indoor temperature between 80 and 90 degrees.

“The air conditioning has definitely made a world of difference,” Deibel said.

 The decision to renovate the old location was the result of long discussions between chamber board members. After reviewing the options for the organization’s future, the board decided to fix the Highway 95 property. For one thing, it was property the chamber already owned, and improving it made the best financial sense. The area also has a lot of history attached to it, both related to the chamber and Sandpoint itself, officials said.  

Chamber supporters helped make the project even more feasible. Members of the Panhandle Building Contractors Associate, headed up by Scott Schriber, were especially key in bringing the project to a quick and high-quality completion. Nevertheless, chamber officials said there’s still plenty of work to be done as they prepare to complete the move late this year.