The Carbon County Commissioners were joined by County Economic Development Specialist Rita Vigor to discuss the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for the operation of the Prehistoric Museum Visitor Center.
The county has been working with Price City as well as USU Eastern in an attempt to house the visitor center back in the museum. Vigor stated that she believes that is the best place for it since that is where the majority of the visitors will go. This will benefit Price City and the community as a whole.
Through this, the museum will also garner more visitors. The MOU allows for Price City and the county to pay a portion for a staff member that would be there to answer questions as visitors come in, while also allowing for some displays in the atrium. Funding for this venture will be taken from the Transient Room Tax (TRT).
The visitor center is currently housed within the Carbon County Administration Building and, prior to the budget cuts, there was an employee that manned the center, which is currently in the planning and zoning office.
Vigor stated that she feels that this is a good solution to help fill that need. With a museum employee there, even if the visitor center employee is not working, there will still be someone there to handle responsibilities. There is an average of 20,000 to 30,000 visitors per year at the center and it would be beneficial to have those visitors cared for.
Commissioner Casey Hopes remarked that this would allow for weekend hours as well as the administration building is closed during the weekend. Training would be provided for the employee as well as museum staff to help them really understand the visitor experience.
Ultimately, this MOU was approved by the commissioners in the hopes of improving the visitor experience in Carbon County.