The Annapolis and Anne Arundel County Conference and Visitors Bureau broke ground Thursday on an expansion it hopes attracts millions of dollars in tourism-related business.
The eight-month project, costing $1.3 million, will temporarily eliminate about 30 parking spaces in Annapolis? historic district., where parking is already tight.
During construction, crews will use an adjacent parking lot as a staging area, according to Connie Del Signore, spokeswoman for the visitors bureau. The visitors center would pay to rent the spaces for the duration of the construction, and regular parking patrons will be able to use the neighboring city garage.
“We?ll actually have a net gain of parking spaces with the opening of the new state garage,” she said. The newly constructed state parking garage a few blocks away on Bladen Street is scheduled to open next week and will be available on nights and weekends.
The expansion project also includes renovated restrooms in the visitors center and a new entrance off of West Street. The center is currently only accessible by an entrance facing a city garage.
“We know the tourists just don?t come by themselves,” said state Sen. John Astle, D-District 30, who lobbied for more than $500,000 in state bonds for the project. “It requires marketing … and to do that effectively, [the visitors bureau] has outgrown the space. When it?s finished they?ll have a facility that will help them market Annapolis and Anne Arundel County to the world.”
According to bureau statistics, tourism generates about $1.5 billion in business annually in Anne Arundel, creating an estimated 40,000 jobs. The bureau recruits an estimated $2 million to $4 million in tourism annually.
The expansion will double the bureau?s existing office space, housing 10 full time employees and 120 volunteers. Until the project is completed, the bureau has moved into temporary office space at 197 Main St. in Annapolis, and the visitors center will operate out of the lobby of the county government building at 44 Calvert St.
