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Royal Gorge Chamber Alliance seeks $46,000 to support new Depot visitor center and year‑round services
Summary
The Chamber told the Vision Committee its purchase and renovation of the historic depot and Colorado Welcome Center designation are increasing year‑round operations and volunteer staffing needs; it asked the city for $46,000 in 2026 to cover added staff and operational costs.
Rich Millard, speaking for the Royal Gorge Chamber Alliance, described the group’s recent move into the historic 1909 Denver & Rio Grande depot at 816 Royal Gorge Boulevard and said the site now houses a regional visitor and discovery center, co‑op office suites, and programming space. He said the Chamber became a Colorado Welcome Center community partner this summer and now operates the facility with about 30 volunteers.
"This is our area's first dedicated professional visitor center," Millard said, describing the depot as a new hub for visitor services and business support. The Chamber is developing a nearly 1‑acre Gateway Plaza for markets, food trucks and community events, and Millard framed the Depot work as phase one of a five‑year strategy called Royal Gorge Rising.
Millard asked the committee for $46,000 in community agency funding for 2026. He said the incremental increase is driven largely by staffing needs to manage volunteers and year‑round visitor‑center operations, plus modest operational and technology items such as a planned touchscreen kiosk and wayfinding signage. Millard said some costs were funded up front to meet Colorado’s welcome‑center standards and that the Chamber expects to pursue state or grant funding in future years for ongoing support.
Council members asked for clearer budget documents separating foundation and chamber finances, visitor traffic data, and whether state welcome‑center funding could offset local costs in later years. Millard said volunteers are handling much of the front‑line work now and that the chamber will provide requested budget details and visitor counts to staff for the October workshop.
