Welcome Center Partners

The Brainerd Lakes Area Welcome Center officially opened its doors to travelers on Wednesday, May 18, 2005 after representatives from the state, county, and Brainerd Lakes Chamber cut the ribbon for the $1.3 million facility adjacent Highway 371, approximately five miles south of Baxter and Brainerd in Crow Wing County.

The Brainerd Lakes Area Welcome Center is no ordinary wayside rest. Instead, project leaders hail the facility and the unique public/private partnership that made it a reality, a model for future facilities across the state. The Welcome Center offers travelers expanded customer services at a cost-effective, state-of-the-art facility, aimed at boosting economic development in the Brainerd Lakes Area.

In addition to expanded restroom facilities, professional staff and volunteers from the Brainerd Lakes Chamber will staff the Welcome Center, and visitors will have the opportunity to enjoy interpretative displays by the state Department of Natural Resources (DNR). Other amenities include high-speed wireless internet services, a larger-than-life floor map illustrating the lakes region, Paul Bunyan statue, and a gift shop which sells Brained Lakes Area merchandise as well as products made by local artisans.

The partnership group: the Minnesota Department of Transportation (Mn/DOT), the Brainerd Lakes Chamber, Crow Wing County, DNR, and Minnesota State Patrol, began its efforts more than a decade before the actual opening of the facility with the goal of expanding governmental services yet enhancing the quality of the services provided in the region. The project required special legislation and more than a decade of work to make it a reality. In addition, more than 100 Chamber-member businesses and individuals provided cash and material donations totaling close to $600,000 to offset construction costs.