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In 2015, tourists spent about $7.3M, about $500K less than previous year
by Lisa McDonald · News · June 16, 2016
A little over 127,000 visitors spent about $7.3 million in West Branch or within a 60-mile area centered around Herbert Hoover National Historic Site, according to a new National Park Service report.
That is approximately $500,000 -- about 6.4 percent -- less than 2014 and a decrease of more than 11,800 visitors -- or 8.5 percent.
The report, released April 29, shows the Hoover Site supporting 122 jobs in 2015, a decrease from 131 jobs in 2014.
“I think people take ownership in their national parks,” Site Superintendent Pete Swisher said. But, he said, increasing interest in historical sites among the younger generation can be a challenge.
Swisher said the drop in visitors can be seen on a smaller scale.
“We see the same kind of ebb and flow in our school tour program,” he said.
Swisher said the “Making of the Great Humanitarian: Herbert Hoover and World War I” by the Hoover Library-Museum took up the space traditionally used for the Christmas tree exhibit, so the latter was unable to run at full capacity this year.
The Herbert Hoover National Historic Site installed a permanent exhibit on Herbert Hoover’s youth, burial and making of the park in the Visitor Center. The creation of a park tour mobile app, developed via a partnership with the University of Iowa, earned the Herbert Hoover NHS the status of being the first national park that is 100 percent accessible to visitors, Swisher said.
Swisher said these developments have provided a base for drawing more visitors in the coming years. Main Street West Branch Director Kevin Rogers said while this is good for the park, it is also good for the city.
“We’re all in it together,” Rogers said.
Even though overall turnout was lower, Swisher said raising interest for the local younger generation was “extremely successful” due to the Find Your Park campaign.
West Branch fourth graders each picked a national park to research and presented their research at the National Park fair in March.
The Find Your Park campaign will continue through 2017, but Swisher said the fourth grade national park project could become a permanent part of the curriculum at Hoover Elementary.
The Hoover Presidential Foundation this year will take visitors to the Prohibition era with their exhibit “Ain’t Misbehavin’? The World of the Gangster,” on display at the Hoover Library-Museum.
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