NIAGARA FALLS — Several flat screen televisions depict visual examples of the region’s tourism options, such as fine dining, attractions and entertainment.

Nearby, brochure racks offer free maps, as well as attraction and hotel information.

All this and more await tourists upon entering the new $2.4 million Niagara USA Visitor Center. The long-awaited facility, located on the roundabout at Rainbow Boulevard and First Street, will be officially unveiled during a grand opening ceremony at 10 a.m. today. Its opening fills a much-needed void in the promotion and marketing of the Niagara Region, said Niagara Tourism and Convention Corp. President John Percy.

“It’s wonderful to have a new facility, that really elevates the destination, elevates the image and allows us to portray that to visitors, so when they come in they will feel truly welcome,” Percy said. “It’s great to finally have a permanent state-of-the-art facility that we have been lacking. It’s been a deficit, a void for quite some time.”

Percy gave the Niagara Gazette an advanced tour of the center’s interior on Thursday.

The 8,400-square-foot building highlights the four distinct regions of Niagara County — falls, lake, river and canal — and has numerous exhibits centered around those themes. The facility has a touch screen computer to provide access to the Internet for individuals in need of making hotel and attraction reservations or send out e-mails. Historical photos and information is outlined in a series of exhibits, which line the walls of the facility. Magnetic wall maps will be utilized to give a glimpse into the events and activities scheduled across the county each day.

The all-glass facade building also houses the NTCC administrative offices.

NTCC Board of Directors Chairman Frank Strangio said the construction of the visitor center is an important day for Niagara USA tourism and reiterated the notion that it has been a long time coming.

“The new facility will serve as a hub for all of Niagara County, as guests to our region will have the opportunity to learn more about all of the great attractions, venues and events or make hotel and dinner reservations,” said Strangio, who owns the Quality Inn and Antonio’s Banquet Hall on Niagara Falls Boulevard.

The NTCC is a countywide tourism agency and Percy said the new visitors center will be used to not only educate tourists on Niagara Falls, but to give them other regional options including Fort Niagara, the Lockport Locks, the Niagara Wine trail and much more.

“This agency promotes Niagara Falls, Niagara County and beyond,” Percy said. “We have to be broad thinkers in every approach. We have to get the point across that there is so much to do here in this region and the premise of this visitors center is to educate them on the full product offerings we richly have here.”

The visitor center is the first new building constructed in the downtown corridor since 2006.

Funding for the $2.4 million project is primarily coming from a $1.04 million grant from the federal Transportation Enhancement Program, administered by the DOT. NTCC receives close to $2 million annually from hotel bed tax and casino revenue from Niagara Falls, which will help finance the project. USA Niagara sponsored the DOT grant application and committed a portion of NTCC’s required non-federal matching funds for the project.

Niagara Falls Mayor Paul Dyster stressed the importance of the construction of an official visitors center and the need to provide tourists with complete and unbiased information.

“We have a lot of different folks and establishments who have a role to play in getting information to tourists, but you need to have one place that is the official source of information, that will answer your questions in an impartial way,” Dyster said. “It’s a very positive thing to go to a place that is a clearing house for every single attraction in the Niagara Region.”

Dyster also cited the importance of the facility in its role to draw tourists out of the Niagara Falls State Park and inform them of what else there is to do in the city aside from the attractions in the vicinity of the falls themselves.

“With the removal of the Wintergarden, this falls in line with the strategy of drawing people into the city, capturing the flow of visitors up from the park,” Dyster said. “I think this visitor center will help us going forward.”

The building, which had a soft opening last month, is fully staffed by five full- and part-time employees and is open June 1 through Sept. 15 from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Sept. 16 through May 31 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

View a slideshow of the new visitor center HERE