BC Visitor Centre in Merritt closes

Jan 16, 2018 | 1:26 PM

KAMLOOPS — A familiar spot for those travelling south of Kamloops has closed its doors after 16 years at the same location.

The BC Visitor Centre was located at the interchange of Highway 97C and the Coquihalla Highway but shut for good last Friday.

However Kathleen Harvey, Manager of Visitor Services with Destination BC, says from now on travelling information will be available to those who need it in downtown Merritt.

“Visitor Services has actually been provided within the City of Merritt at the Baillie House in downtown Merritt (across from City Hall) for a number of years. So, this change is really more of a consolidation of the visitor services efforts whereby we are working closely with the City of Merritt so that they are the providers of visitor services in this area.”

She says the location at Exit 286 had been used predominantly “as a rest or a washroom stop.” 

“In fact it’s become pretty much a de facto washroom stop. The request for information or travel information, trip planning information, is not that significant at this location. So, there really hasn’t been a lot of opportuntiy to encourage people to get off the highway and go into downtown.”

Harvey says Destination BC hopes the new location will provide a boost to the local economy.

“We do feel that this shift in the provision of visitor services to the Baillie House will actually assist with same economic benefits to the businesses in downtown Merritt.”

She says the new permanent location is located just four minutes from the old location and will also be open year round and provide the same services.

“It is a charming visitor centre, for sure. It is smaller than the provincial centre but they provide all the same information, they’re trained in the same manner that the staff up at the centre were.”

As for the future of the old building or the land, Harvey doesn’t believe any decisions have been made yet.