BOISE -- This week, both of Boise's visitor centers closed. The money to keep them open simply ran out. It's the latest event in an ongoing dispute between the Greater Boise Auditorium District and the Boise Convention and Visitors Bureau.
In July, the district permanently suspended more than a million dollars in funding to the bureau which runs the visitor centers.
Now, caught in the mix could be thousands of visitors and dollars to the area.
Wednesday could be one of the last times Anne Chambers sees the inside of a visitor center. For years, she and dozens of volunteers manned the visitor centers downtown on the Grove and near the airport on Vista, but this week, the cash flow went dry and now the doors to both are locked.
"It's a huge, huge loss. We'll be the only city of this size, probably even smaller size to not have a visitors center," Chambers said.
In the last couple years, more than 15,000 visitors stopped by the centers. Volunteers turned some of their questions into dollars for the area.
"And of course, that's when I start selling Boise. Because I've been here awhile, I guess was able to do that," said volunteer Mary Burnett.
"They want to know a little about the city, where can they stay, where can they eat, what should they see and do while they're here? And we had a ton of information," said Chambers.
The Boise Convention and Visitors Bureau paid $25,000 a year for leases, volunteer parking and Anne Chambers' part-time salary. That money came from the Greater Boise Auditorium District, which also owns the Boise Centre on the Grove.
Now that the Bureau can no longer afford the centers, the Centre on the Grove may step in to provide a similar service. Its manager calls the visitor centers valuable, and says his staff is reviewing options - including asking a local business to help.
Chambers questions that idea.
"I'm going to guess that another business would have to have either additional employees or have some way to be able to devote the time necessary when you visit with people who are coming in to a visitors center," said Chambers.
In a statement, the mayor's spokesman told KTVB the closure of the visitors centers is an example of why the conflict between the district and the bureau must be resolved.
Volunteers like Mary Burnett agree. "It was a great place to have and I wish we could continue it," she said.
The mayor's office emphasized the importance of the auditorium district and bureau finding a solution. The city is willing to pay up to $10,000 for mediations between both parties.
We are told the mediation meetings continue. No word on when a final decision will be made. Last week, the bureau moved out of its office near 9th and Front streets. It is now operating out of donated space near the Owyhee Plaza Hotel.
