Kimball's new visitor center set to open

Several years ago the

s tate closed then demolish

ed a r est stop along I-80

n ear Kimball Since then ,

the only visitor 's center

alon g t he In ter state corridor

in Nebraska's panhandle

has been Sidney's log

cabin.

That is about to ch ange.

A n ew visitors center

is set ot opening in early

July on the south side of

Kimball, thanks to frnancial

assistance from Gering

and Morrill County, along

with funds from Kimball's

hotel t ax.

"Once we get up and running

we will be the first

stop for people traveling

from the west ern border,"

r eported Kimball tourism

director J o Caskey

The community approved

the project ea rlier this year,

allowing the visitors center

to lease a vacant fast food

r estaurant building on I-

80. The center is just over

22 miles from the Wyoming

border.

Ca sk ey sees the facility

a s an opportunity to sell the

whole of west ern Nebraska

and its tourism opportunities

to passing travelers.

"If we d on't get them to

stop in Kimball, we lo st

the chance to route them

through the panhandle,"

she explained.

Sidney's tourist center

h as occupied the structure

a cross from Cabela's retail

destination for the past six

year s, with funding from

Ch eyenne County But the

county's tourism dir ector,

Ramona J oyce, doubts the

n ew Kimball addition will

a ffect t r affic in Sidney - a t

least to an y gr eat extent.

"They p ossibly might stop

there and keep on going,

passing Sidney," Joyce said.

"But we work with the st a te

and work together and we're

n ot in compe tition."