Visit Sheboygan Visitor Center to Open

Sheboygan, WI—Visit Sheboygan, Inc., announces the opening of the new visitor center at 10 a.m. Friday morning. Located at 826 S. 8th St. in Sheboygan, the center not only offers information on sites, attractions, events, restaurants, and shopping in the area but also features a new Sheboygan-centric gift shop with souvenirs and limited pieces produced by local artists. Amy Wilson, president, and CEO of Visit Sheboygan noted,

“We’re very excited to be opening the doors for business, especially in time for holiday gift shopping. We were originally scheduled to open in spring, but the pandemic situation set us back several months. Although there will be more exhibits added to the center over the next two years, we’re looking forward to opening the gift shop and offering tourists information about the area.”

Plans for future exhibits include the Science on a Sphere (SOS), a suspended spherical screen projecting online data sets transforming it into a giant animated planet. Hundreds of programs made available by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) include airline flights across the globe, current global earthquake activity, platonic shift over time, the shrinking of the rainforest, population mass across the globe, wind and weather patterns covering the earth, ocean currents, the asteroid belt, solar system, and hundreds of other informative and entertaining earth and space programs. “The sphere will be online in the coming weeks. It’s a free exhibit that will be the focal centerpiece of the visitor center storefront, as it will be able to be viewed by passersby on S. 8th Street after sunset,” explained Wilson.

Other future exhibits include the Science in the Sky project featuring an off-the-grid 90-foot raised platform cantilevered 30 feet over the Sheboygan River with a self-contained eco-system of the Lake Michigan land- and water-scape including freshwater aquaponics and plant life. Science in the Sky will be surrounded by a living Lake Michigan landscape environment including a small orchard, rain and pollinator gardens, edible gardens, prairie gardens, walking paths, and an outdoor classroom area. “We’re looking forward to the visitor center becoming its own destination for interactive learning opportunities that expand knowledge about our lakeshore environment. It certainly makes visiting the area a more interesting place to experience while promoting waterfront activity and engagement,” explained Wilson.

Visit Sheboygan, Inc., is the official tourism entity for the Sheboygan Area Tourism Zone, including the City of Sheboygan, the Town of Sheboygan, and the Town of Wilson. “Many people think we’re part of the Sheboygan County Chamber, but we’re not. Of course, we’re proud members of the chamber, and we’re very happy to partner with the chamber in some of our promotional efforts. However, Visit Sheboygan is not a membership-based organization. We are funded solely by room tax dollars collected from overnight stays in lodging facilities located within our specific tourism zone. The new visitor center was made possible through a partnership with a private developer. Visit Sheboygan leases the facility and the grounds. The center was not paid for by property tax; it’s funded through room tax collections,” Wilson said. “Currently, the tourism economy across the county is worth more than $240 million in annual visitor spending. Room tax dollars from our tourism zone allow us to specifically promote the Sheboygan area to future visitors, keeping the local tourism economy robust,” said Wilson.

The new visitor center hours are Tuesday through Friday 9 a.m. to 3 p.m and Saturday 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The center is closed Sunday and Monday. A self-serve vestibule for tourism information is open seven days a week from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. 

For more information, please contact the Visitor’s Center at (920) 335-0060, toll-free at (844) 952-0200 or email [email protected].