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As a tourist stop, have you considered the competition?

The year is 2006 and the Baker family is traveling through Montana from Boston in their new 4-wheel drive flying van. With the latest on-board computer guidance systems, they touch down frequently to see a beautiful spot close-up from the ground. Sometimes they land along a strip of commercial buildings to buy food, hot coffee and throw a few dollars in the keno machines.

The van’s computer alerts them to a National Historic site along the Yellowstone River, Pompeys Pillar, which also has a great interpretive center that Mrs. Baker wants to see. The Geo positioning satellites have pinpointed a nice landing site but little Billy Baker has been restless all day and wants to go swimming.

Chelsea Baker, his older sister, cues Hal, her personal hand held computer, and asks for information on Pompeys Pillar. Immediately a program pops up and offers a full motion lifelike computer image video reenactment of Captain Clark carving his name into the pillar - done in Hollywood by Toy Story’s Pixar Corp. It also offers the complete text of 124 books on Lewis and Clark’s Journey including their personal journals.

The PBS movie, by Ken Burns, is also available, plus 304,000 catalogued still pictures from every angle of the pillar, as well as the entire length of the expedition, from Pittsburgh to Oregon, and back. They include every possible sunset and sunrise imaginable with retouched photos to look authentically like 1803 to 1806. No casinos, developments, billboards, or tourist traps are seen in these pictures.

The viewer is transported back in time as if they were really there with Lewis and Clark. Special sensory devices emit smells of plants and air - all computer controlled. Original sound tracks add to an emotional journey back in time. Chelsea Baker can download this and watch it all in real time, or save it until they are sitting around a big screen monitor eating popcorn in their hotel room in Billings, 30 miles away.

The Bakers have to make a decision whether to visit the interpretive center surrounded by casinos, billboards, and tourist shops, or go on to Billings and check into their hotel room, and let Billy Baker play on the giant water slide. Little Billy Baker cries, "I want to swim! I want to slide! I want to..." Mr. Baker touches the electronic map on the screen that shows Billings and the computer takes over. In ten minutes little Billy Baker is sliding into the water with a refreshing splash!

Today, in 1999, every one of the items in this story are not only technically possible, they are being used. Imagine what will be available in 7 years. Before spending $5.5 million dollars on an interpretive center, let’s be sure it’s not obsolete before the first giant highway billboard advertises it.

Check out the competition. Could it be the long arm of Disney? There is serious talk of Disney buying Apple Computer which owns Pixar Corp. Can the interpretive center be out-interpreted with DVD and computer technology? The answer is yes, and the Bakers won’t even have to leave Boston to see it. What does that do to the investment in the building we are about to make, not to mention the future costs of maintenance, security and personnel over the life of the building?

Check out other visitor centers and see what they take in. Lovell, Wyoming has had one for over 20 years for the Bighorn Recreation Area. It appears empty whenever I see it. How much money does the town of Lovell make from the visitor center? Are we thinking 20 years behind the times, at a time when innovative thinking rules business and nations?

The new economy requires new thinking even for government sponsored projects. The new economy is driven by technology and new creative ideas executed by forward-thinking people. If the community is going to pony-up $2 million for an interpretive center, they should have a business plan that shows a feasible return on investment back to the community. If that can’t be done, then it doesn’t matter how much government money is put into the project, the community could still lose $2 million that could fund other projects. And what are the community’s costs for maintenance and personnel over the years? Can they afford it?

If we are going to compete in the new global economy these questions should be looked at. "What else could we do, interpretive centers are the only thing we can think of?" How about something the community can use all year round and make money on it also. How about a $5.5 million indoor swim center? The interpretive center could be located inside the swim center and the community could use the building also. We could shrink the interpretive center down to the size of a lobby or all the way down to a DVD disk done by Disney.

If few tourists showed up, the community could bring new visitors in by holding swim meets. Everyone could use the facility from sports for kids to exercise for older people. If it is designed right, the town could hold meetings there. Swim clinics or other seminars could make money for the community. Artists could hang their work there or it could be rented out to associations for small group gatherings or mini trade events. If we put our heads together, 1001 uses could be envisioned within a flexible framework. Think differently to build a strong community in the new economy.

Another way to think differently is the location of the building. If we locate the interpretive center or whatever it becomes, near the pillar, we create a number of problems. First, the Pillar has a big building close by and that ruins the undeveloped natural look, which is one of the best things about it. Even if the building is bermed, paved parking lots, flagpoles, and garbage cans show up a mile away.

Second, a building has to have a road to it. The government has no control past 1/8th mile around the Pillar - about two city blocks (or smaller than a K-Mart parking lot). The road can be developed on both sides by private developers who care more about making a buck, than leaving a long-term legacy. Billboards, shacks, gaming halls, motels, firecracker stands, whatever the market will bear, will go up. Drive to any strip development and see for yourself. If that’s what you want, go for it. But don’t use the lame excuse you can’t do anything about it. That’s what God gave you brains for.

If you don’t have a road to the Pillar, you can’t have the sprawl. People are not going to walk across a farmer’s field to go to a casino. Put the building near the town of Pompeys Pillar, on the North side of the overpass along with a staging area. Then have a private road straight to the river to meet up with the interpretive trail that leads to the Pillar. Don’t allow access to the private road. Urban sprawl is forever eliminated from the Pillar in a fairly inexpensive and straightforward manner.

The highway rest areas and tourist shops are kept at one staging area next to the new building. People can even walk a block to town to new development like a nice hotel. Provide strong zoning to keep out billboards and trashy buildings. Work together to boycott businesses that don’t conform to your master plan. Direct visitors to the businesses that support your plan. People of communities have more power than they think. When they think differently, there are unlimited possibilities for the future.

How is your community preparing for future competition?  e-mail jb@redfly.com.

Copyright 1999 by Jeffrey C. Baston, NCARB, AIA

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Report on Pompeys Pillar. If tunneling into the Pillar or 4-story elevators bother you, read this!