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The Greater Ontario Convention & Visitors Bureau will open a California Welcome Center next month at Ontario Mills.
The center, which will cover 1,500 square feet, is being developed on the mall’s west side in an area that is currently being redeveloped, said Sue Oxarart, the bureau’s director of communications.
The facility, which will provide printed and video information about places to see and visit in California, the Inland Empire and the Ontario area, is scheduled to open May 4 at The Mills’ west entrance.
Besides regular patrons, the Welcome Center will greet the estimated 700 tour buses that visit the Mills every year, all of which arrive at the west entrance.
“We’ve gone back and forth with this thing,” Oxarart said. “At first we were going to build a kiosk, which was going to be temporary, but when they started the renovation we decided to wait and do something permanent.”
The state of California awarded the welcome center to the bureau, which is developing it and will own and operate the facility. Cost of construction, which will come out of the bureau’s budget, was not available.
Its amenities will include electronic visual displays, interactive digital screens, lounge space, work stations and retail items, according to a statement.
The Welcome Center will employ a full-time manager and six part-time employees, and it will be open whenever The Mills is open, including during the holidays, Oxarart said.
It’s important to have such a facility to promote tourism, even in the age of the Internet.
“People want personal contact, some human interaction, and you aren’t going to get that online,” Oxarart said.
