The Saline County Commission selected a team led by WSKF Architects to design a new visitors center focused on increasing tourism in the county and the surrounding area.
The project began with developing a building design and site layout as part of a grant application for a federal economic development grant program. The grant requires a local funding match. WSKF and engineering partners worked in close collaboration with the Commission and Pioneer Trails Regional Planning Commission.
The 2,300-sq-ft Visitor Center will offer interpretive displays and exhibits, multi-media content, and a resource area for visitors to find material about Saline, Johnson, Lafayette, and Pettis counties. The grounds will provide interpretive signage, an area with native prairie plants, and access to an adjacent restored prairie natural area.
The vision for the center is to increase interest and awareness to generate more visitors to historic sites, outdoor recreational destinations, and amenities across the four counties. The Visitor Center will be a distinctive new facility to tell the broader and intertwined stories of the four counties – their rich past and what they offer visitors and travelers today. A local resident is donating the land for the development of the center. The facility will be on a frontage road off Highway 65 just north of the Interstate 70 junction.