April 18, 2024

Does Newton need a visitors center?

Museum executive director has an idea of where to put one

By Christopher Braunschweig

Bill Perrenoud, executive director of the Jasper County Historical Museum, presented the Newton City Council with an idea of establishing a visitor's center in the local museum. Perrenoud stressed the idea was not an official proposal of any sort but wanted to pitch it to the city anyway. (Christopher Braunschweig)

Establishing an official visitors center inside the Jasper County Historical Museum could meet the needs of travelers and benefit both the City of Newton and the local historical exhibit building, museum executive director Bill Perrenoud suggested at the Monday evening city council meeting.

Perrenoud pitched the collaboration during his presentation to the Newton City Council about the museum and its impact in the community. He remembered an interaction he had with a tourist when working as a part-time delivery driver for NAPA Auto Parts; it occurred before he became involved with the museum.

“I was heading out to my car and this couple said, ‘Excuse me! Can you tell me where the visitors center is?’” Perrenoud recalled. “Now, they knew I was not (involved with) anything to do with a visitors center. But they wanted to know. They wanted to find out more about Newton.”

At the time, his answer to the couple was: “I don’t know.” Nevertheless, the experience showed him there is a need for a tourism hub to assist first-time guests to Newton and direct them to landmarks across the community.

A 12-by-13 room in the Jasper County Historical Museum could serve as a potential site.

Currently acting as the “towns of the past” room, the space would be easy to modify, Perrenoud reasoned. The museum’s proximity, he added, to exit 164 of Interstate 80 makes it “a prime location” for an information center.

“I think people would take advantage of it,” he said. “So we’re hoping you might consider the same thing. Get to know Newton. This would be one of the best ways, I think, we could get to know Newton is have a visitors center that we could work with and develop.”

Perrenoud claimed a collaborative effort to create a core tourism pit stop would be a “win-win” for the city and museum.

Acknowledging he had heard of others’ attempts to make information center projects in the past, Perrenoud hopes this might be one “that would work” because of the museum’s location along the 1700 block of South 15th Avenue West, parallel to highways US-6/IA-14.

Stressing he was not proposing specific plans for the project itself, Perrenoud did propose a meeting with the city to discuss the possibility of creating a committee to come up with a way to make the museum’s facility “usable for the City of Newton.”

City Administrator Matt Muckler asked Perrenoud if his idea for the visitors’ center would include Jasper County or remain exclusive to Newton. Based on the information centers Perrenoud has been to, he said it would be for the City of Newton but would also include sites inside (and possibly outside) Jasper County.

“And have you approached Jasper County and the other cities within Jasper County with this idea? And what kind of feedback have you got from those?” Muckler asked.

“We have not contacted anybody,” Perrenoud said. “We’re starting with the big boys first.”

Newton Mayor Mike Hansen told Perrenoud said he is “extremely excited” about conversations regarding a visitor center at the Jasper County Historical Museum.

“I think it just plays into a gem for everybody to enjoy … not only for us to utilize as a visitors’ center,” Hansen said. “And I think there are all kinds of possibilities with that. So I’m excited about continuing the conversation regarding that.”

Contact Christopher Braunschweig at 641-792-3121 ext. 6560 or cbraunschweig@newtondailynews.com