Heritage Tourism On the Grow in Centralia

We received a lot of response to our blog entry earlier this month about Heritage Tourism and Centralia being a “poster child” for the cause.  Heritage Tourism is feeding the American travel experience in droves.  In order to attract tourist revenue many towns have adopted “themes” to create a buzz.  The Centralia Historic Downtown is on its way to becoming a champion heritage tourism destination because all that Centralia has to do is complete the rehabilitation process.  The Historic Downtown in and of itself is what makes Centralia so unique.  The collection of buildings that exist in the downtown core are among some of the most undisturbed original masterpieces that reflect the architectural designs of the time, circa 1900 in America.

The renaissance that is currently underway in the downtown core that begun several years ago is beginning to become highly noticeable in the outward appearance of the ‘face’ of downtown.  Building owners and investors are transforming the facades of their buildings through rehabilitation and renovation efforts.  These efforts are creating a new climate for restoration and demonstrating an “active preservation” movement.  Partnered with the recent work of the Centralia Historic Preservation Committee to list the charming residential Edison District neighborhood on the National Register of Historic Places – Centralia is firmly placing itself on the map as a “Historic Destination” worth visiting.

These broad efforts are deepening the historical sense that one has when they visit Centralia.  Folks are becoming increasingly aware that what exists in Centralia is unique, irreplaceable, one of a kind and a distinctive place of value.   The word is out that Centralia is experiencing a “rebirth” and investors are coming to the table with capital to get in on the movement. 

The Historic Downtown core has what preservationist consider “content.”   Undisturbed buildings that reflect the ‘history’ of the place.  This environment creates an opportunity to promote the “experience” of heritage tourism.  Just being among the historical structures gives you the sense that “you have gone back in time.”  The next step to successfully creating heritage tourism is manifesting an “experience.”  Visiting Centralia needs to be worthy of the effort to get here.  The charm of the environment needs to be partnered with the experience of being here.  Bottom line, Centralia needs to be more of a place that tourists can create memories and community members can create an enjoyable life.

One of the next steps in facilitating this change in environment is attracting refreshing, unique and needed businesses to the downtown sector.  The mix of businesses downtown is critical to the experience of the community, people who live and work in the downtown area and the visiting tourists whose dollars we depend on for economic growth.  Darin Harris, of Boccata Deli http://www.BoccataDeli.com explained it best, “We went out on a limb bringing Boccata Deli to N. Tower Avenue when we first got started.  However, we figured that every new business raises the level of the Centralia experience like new ice cubes raise the water level in a glass.  Someone has to be the first cube in the glass - each one makes a difference.”  Now Boccata is a mainstay business in downtown Centralia.  Centralia is a better place because of Boccata.  Boccata does a great job of providing an “experience.” 

The careful balance of business mix is critical to creating a destination worthy of traveling to and then returning home to tell all your friends and family about it - - so they will want to travel there too.  After all, referrals and personal testimonies are the number one travel generator according to the experts.  It will be interesting to see how the future of the downtown core is infused with new life as more unique and needed businesses make Tower and Pearl Avenues home.

Every successful business will make a significant contribution to raising the level of the tourist and community experience.  Soon the face of the downtown business mix will reflect a new “heritage personality” that will be the cornerstone of Centralia heritage tourism.  There is no doubt that Centralia is fast becoming one of the Pacific Northwest’s Treasure Towns.  Rich in heritage and tourist dollars!