Executive committee discusses closure of Gateway visitor centre

WATCH: The future of Gateway Park Visitor Centre is up in the air. Kendra Slugoski explains.

EDMONTON – Edmonton council’s executive committee discussed options for the Gateway visitor centre since the current lease expires at the end of the year.

The Edmonton Economic Development Corporation’s lease on the centre expires December 2014.

The visitor information centre – located on Highway 2 at Edmonton’s southern boundary – has been in place since 1987.

Visitors will now be helped online, says Maggie Davison, with the EEDC.

“We are able to serve more visitors, more efficiently and effectively in the digital space,” explained Davison.

“We have an award winning website which is very current and responsive to any devise and we will still support visitor  inquiries ,” she added.

The number of visitors to the centre has dropped over the last six years. Of the 44,000 carloads that drop by the centre, the majority of the visits are washroom stops.

A city committee discussed several options Tuesday for the future of the 9.6-hectare property. The mayor says other corners of the city don’t even have tourism booths. But Councillor Scott McKeen wants to know if the centre;s limited hours are limiting its potential.

In November, city administration will deliver a verbal report on the costs to maintain or decommission the building.

Another report looking at alternate uses – and potential partners, including Edmonton police and emergency services – will be presented to council in the first quarter of 2015.

City council will review the cost of the building and its operation during budget deliberations next month.

Whatever route the city takes, though, it will only be temporary as the province will eventually take over this land to re-align the freeway.