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T. J. Kaikobad
DALTON, Ga. — As cities around the country mark National Tourism Week, Dalton officials are looking at ways to tap into the historic and cultural resources to attract visitors — and their dollars — to the Carpet Capital.
Tourism is “a key economic engine for our community,” said Margaret Thigpen, executive director of the Dalton Area Convention and Visitors Bureau.
Tourism is responsible for employment of 1,540 people and generation of $8.65 million a year in tax revenue for the Dalton area, Ms. Thigpen said.
But local officials — including Ms. Thigpen — say Dalton isn’t reaching its tourism potential.
Mayor David Pennington said Dalton lacks the infrastructure or attractions to draw weekend visitors. He’d like to see a boutique hotel in the historic Landmark Building downtown, or antique shops that could lure baby boomers from Atlanta.
“We don’t have anything to keep them here,” Mr. Pennington said. “They’ll go to Chattanooga.”
FAST FACT
Two-thirds of U.S. adults plan to shorten or eliminate road trips this summer due to high gas prices. Still, 75 percent of adults are “somewhat likely to take a road trip this summer.”
Source: Rand McNally’s Great American Road Trip Survey, taken April 29 to May 1
Whitfield County’s official historian, Marcelle White, believes visitors would enjoy the area’s historical sites — if only they were accessible.
Dalton’s Emery Center, for example, opened in 1886 as the all-black Emery Street School. It has been restored into the city’s preeminent center for black history — but has the funding sufficient only to stay open nine hours a week and by appointment.
“You’ve got events promoting tourism,” Ms. White said, but “nothing’s open ... We don’t have the funds.”
For her part, Ms. Thigpen has suggested that Whitfield County’s historic sites develop weekend hours, so they’re open when visitors are most likely to pass by on Interstate 75.
“It gives them more of a reason to stop here,” Ms. Thigpen explained.
County Commission Chairman Brian Anderson agreed historic sites need more funding to increase their staffs, but said, “You can’t do everything tomorrow.”
Commissioners do “have a plan in place to enhance Tunnel Hill,” he said about the railroad route and tunnel that played a role in the “Great Locomotive Chase” during the Civil War. The exploits of the men who staged the mission earned for several the Medal of Honor — the first time it ever was presented.
Whitfield County needs to look at “the total picture” to attract tourists, Mr. Anderson said.
“People come to a place where they can get the most out of one visit,” he said.
T.J. Kaikobad, who owns the Dalton Depot, pointed out that his own restaurant is both a pre-Civil War-era building and a place to eat. Mr. Kaikobad would like to see the city’s resources pooled to develop more of its historic sites.
“We have a lot of unpolished diamonds,” he said. “We have got some tremendous opportunities.”
