The Kirkella Visitor Information Centre seems to have fallen on hard times.
Ever since it opened several years ago, the Manitoba tourist station has been a favorite stop with me for two reasons. The first was to pick up material, maps, and posters on the exciting things to see in Manitoba. It was an opportunity to pick up some Manitoba lapel pins that I give out on my travels. The second reason I go up to the site is to visit with the staff, many who are students from over the years in the Fort La Bosse School Division or with my work with Brandon University.
It's always great to see them and to find out what they are doing. Also, the nature of the job at the tourist station allows them to gain valuable public speaking and people skills.
In the spring, the Provincial Government of Manitoba announced that it, the tourist booth at Kirkella, would be closed and Manitoba tourist information would now be obtained at a tourist information site located in Brandon at its Riverbank Discovery Centre. That location, as good as the staff may be, was definitely off the beaten path of tourists traveling east or west along the TransCanada Highway.
However, due to public outcry and petitions, the Kirkella site was reopened.
But on a recent visit, it was not the same information centre. Gone are most of the furnishings of the lobby area, where tourists could sit, have a free coffee, and check out the brochures. There are not as many of the brochures on display, no great Manitoba posters, and no more Manitoba lapel pins. It was a bit disappointing.
The two members of a staff of three that I met were friendly and helpful, but the site is not what it used to be; one that welcomed visitors to our great province. Why it has been cut back on services and material, I don't understand, since it is such an impressive site as you enter or leave the province. The previous plan to move it to Brandon is beyond my public-relations comprehension, but maybe it is because I live outside the perimeter of Winnipeg… the way I see it.
