Tourism industry gets a boost

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Tourism’s impact on the Sauk Valley is substantial. Last year, the Polo-based Blackhawk Waterways Convention and Visitors Bureau pegged tourism revenue at $132 million for Lee, Whiteside, Ogle and Carroll counties combined.

Anything that burnishes the region’s desirability as a destination for visitors is good for local motels, restaurants, stores, gas stations, and entertainment and recreational attractions – not to mention tax coffers.

The recent elevation of the Black Hawk statue, also known as the Eternal Indian, to National Register of Historic Places status is a positive development. The 98-year-old figure, which overlooks the Rock River from Oregon’s Lowden State Park, has long been a tourist draw. There is simply nothing else like Lorado Taft’s 48-foot-tall concrete monolith statue, at least in this neck of the woods. No wonder it remains a popular draw for visitors from near and far.

Significantly, the statue’s listing on the Natural Register could bring more visitors and also should improve the state’s chances of receiving a grant for repairs. It’s been about 15 years since the last major restoration, but with the state’s precarious finances, the money will have to come from somewhere else.

This should improve the Eternal Indian’s chances of remaining an eternal part of the region.

Over Fulton way, the city has won a long-sought designation of its own. Fulton is now part of the Ronald Reagan Trail.

Ronald Reagan’s parents, Jack and Nelle, were born in Fulton and took their marriage vows there. Also, two of the president’s grandparents and a great-grandmother are buried there.

Fulton joins Tampico, Reagan’s birthplace; Dixon, his boyhood home; and Walnut, Ohio, Princeton, Henry, Chillicothe, Peoria Heights, Washington, Eureka, Galesburg and Monmouth as Reagan Trail cities. Fulton’s designation will give Reagan fans a reason to stop by and also take in the city’s authentic Dutch windmill and other sites.

Speaking of Dixon, the Dixon Historic Center became the destination for two Smithsonian Institution exhibits. The first is a permanent exhibit, “Earth from Space.” The second is the center’s first traveling Smithsonian exhibit, “The White House Garden.”

This exhibit, in the first-floor auditorium, opened Nov. 14 and concludes Jan. 9. It displays the history and beauty of the gardens surrounding the Executive Mansion, which Reagan called home in the 1980s, and includes a 30-minute video.

Not just any museum can host a Smithsonian traveling exhibit. The region is fortunate to have the Dixon Historic Center, whose $2.5 million restoration included state-of-the-art climate control and security systems, as a home for such prestigious exhibits.

While local residents wait for other segments of the economy to improve, the tourism industry finds new reasons for visitors to bring themselves, and their dollars, to the region. That is promising news, indeed.

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