The Teton Geotourism Center (TGC) is nearing completion, and is set to open the doors to its 24-hour public restroom on August 1. The murals are being wallpapered, and the exhibits are being finalized. In all, the nonprofit’s exhibit coordinator Cynthia Rose says there have been close to 2,000 volunteer hours that have gone into building the first center of its kind.

“These centers are often nothing more than restrooms with a wall of pamphlet racks, so this project is considerably more involved and engaging to the visitor than the standard,” said Mayor Hyrum Johnson.

This center, over seven years in the making, will supply the first stop to showcase information and guide the thousands of visitors that pass through Driggs each year, traversing the Teton Scenic Byway from Ashton to Swan Valley.

Exhibits offer insight into the recreational features along the byway, and volunteer staff should be available to help visitors find activities around the Tetons, whether it is dogsledding in Ashton or hot air ballooning in the valley, all the while giving reason for tourists to stop and spend time and money in the host town.

Driggs has almost entirely borne the financial burden associated with its construction. According to project manager Doug Self, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) awarded the project a National Scenic Byway grant in 2007 to compensate for 80 percent of the project, roughly $616,000. As the project has evolved into its current state, that figure now accounts for only 44 percent of the project cost, as the final project estimates total $1.3 million. The FHWA would not award grant funds to cover the cost of the plaza.

The remainder of the cost will come from the Driggs Urban Renewal Agency and the City of Driggs, with $475,000 and $250,000 contributions, respectively. TGC Board President and former Mayor of Driggs Dan Powers said that financial contributions have only come from Driggs entities, “although we hope to raise operating funds from other cities, counties and business along the byway.”

Although Johnson said that the grant was awarded to build a byway center, and if the proposal had been presented as a Driggs visitor’s center it would have been denied by the FHWA, he was unable to say how it was not a Driggs Center, considering the giant financial responsibilities incurred by the city.

The Driggs City Council recently approved allocating an additional $5,000 to help cover the operating cost of the geotourism center through FY2014, ending on Oct 1, and is discussing budgeting $10,000 for FY2015. While the TGC fundraises for later operational costs, the center itself will never be self sustaining, said Rose, even with their small, non-competitive local gift shop.

“What are we going to charge for? We’re a service,” she said. “We would like to see an influx of tourism come through here to help business.”

She attributed the International Pedigree Stage Stop Sled Dog Race that begins in Jackson and loops through Evanston, adding Driggs as one of the stops because of the Dog Sled exhibit boasting Ashton’s sledding history.

“Driggs seems to be very well organized and enthusiastic… It just seems right,” said race founder and executive director Frank Teasley. He continued that he did not want to add Ashton to the stop list nor did he accept Driggs’ request to host the race because of the new exhibit.

Once the doors open, Rose said she will become executive director of the TGC and the only paid staff. As she finds more volunteers to help her staff the daytime operations of the center, Teton Valley Chamber of Commerce (TVCC) office manager Mark Griese is set to spend 3-4 hours a day at the TGC helping track foot traffic, said TVCC interim Chair and TGC Vice President Deb Hinkley.

Rose has already found one volunteer, part-time resident Nell Fay, who will be available to greet guests “and make them comfortable and send them out into the area,” before she returns to Florida in the fall.

But, it is not just volunteers that are being sought. Self said that members are attempting to broaden the board, but currently, it is comprised solely of valley residents and part-time residents, save for National Geotourism Council Chair Tim O’Donoghue of Jackson, with none from other areas along the byway signing on to “make decisions” as Rose put it.

The National Geographic Society first coined the term geotourism in 1997 to define “travel that sustains or enhances the geographical character of a place—its environment, culture, aesthetics, heritage, and the well-being of its residents,” and the TGC will be the first visitor’s center with this as its guiding principle.