Ten Ideas For Improving the Visitor Experience In The City of New Castle

Ten Ideas For Improving the Visitor Experience PowerPoint
In The City of New Castle

Russ Smith 10/10/15
Just by way of introduction, I want to say that I worked forty-two years in the National Park Service, most of them involved with visitor services. In fact, I was the Regional Chief of Interpretation for seventy-some parks of the Northeast Region for thirteen years. I also developed the interpretive planning system now used by the National Park Service. It is that experience which gives me the temerity and the desire to come before you to discuss visitor services in New Castle.

The city’s greatest draw is history. With the creation of the new national park, New Castle is seen as a national resource. While visitation may have been primarily local and regional before, visitors will be coming in greater numbers from all over the country. What will their experience be? Will they feel secure? Will they feel comfortable finding their way around? Will they have a high quality interpretive experience? Will they later recommend New Castle to their friends?

In particular what I want to talk about is what the Park Service calls the Visitor Experience. The Visitor Experience is the totality of set of experiences that a visitor has from his or her first contact with a site until they leave that site. Right now, even though there are some very good efforts going on, the New Castle Visitor Experience could be improved. In particular, it’s fragmented and unfocussed. I’d like to offer ideas in ten areas to enhance the visitor experience.

1. Print Media and Brochures – One of the primary ways that a prospective visitor gets to know about a site is through brochures. These can be divided into pre-site and on-site. Here you see three brochures. There are actually only two, but the third one is a Xerox copy of a previous version of the second because the city has run out of the second one and won’t have more until December. Frankly, this does not create a positive impression in the heaviest visitor use season.

The pre-visit brochure is well-designed and carries a lot of information. What it does not do is provide a single contact for more information. Of course, that is because there is no single contact. It also provides no information on parking. Its worst problem is that there is no source of funding to keep it in print and no one to oversee appropriate distribution/

The on-site brochure literally takes you through New Castle from A through Z. It’s a hardy visitor who makes it through all twenty-six stops. There is no option for shorter tours. Here again, there is no information on parking or where to get further information.
2. Digital Media – Most visitors now probably have their first contact with New Castle through digital media. Here again there is no single point of entry. The city has a newly designed web page that provides a visitor information link. Luckily, if you Google New Castle, Delaware, this is the first site that comes up.

This link takes you to another page that provides a smattering of interpretation and information. However, the visitor has to make a third choice to get further information. There is no email address or phone number for further information.

The best choice of the links offered would be the New Castle Community Partnership’s “Historic New Castle” web site. It contains most of the type of information that visitors need. It even has a very nice map showing areas where they can park. What it doesn’t have is an email address or phone number for further information.
3. Highway Signs – Highway signs aren’t as critical as they used to be because of GPS. However, even GPS users needs reassurance that they are going in the right direction. A few years ago, the Delaware River and Bay Authority, at the request of the then Historic New Castle Alliance, added “Historic New Castle” signs on I-295. The Authority has also agreed to add First State National Historical Park signs after they have erected new sign structures. Deldot has agreed to add one sign on I-95 for New Castle and the park, but someone else will have to pay for it.
4. City Signs – The then Historic New Castle Alliance provided funding for Deldot to erect “Historic New Castle Signs” on area roads. The National Park Service followed up on that idea. Unfortunately, the park’s name change now needs to be addressed.

The city has a handsome set of entrance signs. Unfortunately, this one on Route 9 seems to direct you to the road on the left, which takes you…

…here. Some more directional signs are needed or the entrance sign needs to be re-oriented.

Fortunately, if visitors continue on Route 9, they find this directional sign at 6th and Delaware. This sign is part of the wayfinding system provided by the city and the Trustees of the Common. I should also note that, if you follow Google Maps to New Castle. it will take you to this intersection. This makes this sign and others critical.

Pedestrian signs in town are virtually non-existent. They would be a great help to visitors. They could easily be attached to existing sign structures and would be fairly unobtrusive.
5. Parking – Yes, I’m going to go there. I think this sign symbolizes the quandary the city is in. Where do we want visitors to go?

One point that I would like to make, based on my 42 years of experience, is that visitors will NOT walk all the way from Chestnut Street. It’s just not practical. The only thought I can offer is that it would be very helpful if a way could be found to reserve some spaces on Delaware Street for visitors.
6. Clean convenient restrooms – As any visitor center staffer will tell you, the first question a visitor asks is “Where are the restrooms?” (As the nuns used to tell us, you have to take care of physical needs before you can preach religion.) In New Castle the restrooms are tucked away in Battery Park and I understand that they have has a problem with vandalism. It would be a great benefit to have more convenient located restrooms.
7. On-site Information/Orientation – Once visitors have parked, they generally look around for some sort of a visitor center for orientation and information. One place they are drawn to, no doubt because of the flags outside is the City Administration Building.

Now, if I were a visitor, I would consider myself lucky indeed to run into Kim Burgmuller. However, Kim is working at a real disadvantage. Not only is the setting unwelcome, but she has many other tasks that she has responsibility for. (I call this Fortress Kim.)

There is some recent good news regarding visitor information and orientation with the opening of the New Castle Historical Society’s Visitor Center at the Arsenal. One issue here, however, is helping visitors to find it. This is where pedestrian signs could be useful.

Once inside, visitors find a modern information desk and sales area. Both have been much needed. You can get information from trained staff and pick up an audio tour.

Recently, a film has been added which provides a good overview of New Castle and its story. However, to enjoy the Visitor Center and what it has to offer, visitors have to arrive Wednesday through Sunday from April through October. Also, an important thing to remember is that this is the Historical Society’s Visitor Center, not the City’s Visitor Center. Currently, it doesn’t aim to be the focal point for all inquiries about the town.
8. Convenient Visitor Hours – All attractions in New Castle are closed on Monday and Tuesday and most are closed from November through March. Who hasn’t seen visitors on the street on Monday and Tuesday wandering around, looking sort of lost? I understand that the state is reviewing the days that the Court House is open. I hope other sites can do that as well.
9. Wayside Exhibits – One of my favorite forms of interpretive media are wayside exhibits. They work twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, and they never take vacation. The town already has a few wayside exhibits in the form of maps provided by the Trustees of the Common and the City. (This one, by the way, is mounted too high to be accessible to people in wheelchairs.)

This is an example of an interpretive wayside in Wilmington. Here, the panel is providing interpretation and orientation for Willington Square. The base design may be familiar to many of you. It’s the type used in most National Parks for about 50 years – very sturdy.

Interpretive wayside exhibits could be very useful In New Castle. In fact, I’m working on one for Fort Casimir right now. It will help visitors envision the fort in 1651 and understand its importance in controlling the Delaware during the early colonial period.

The New Castle Community Partnership has started on an effort to emplace others throughout the historic area. One possible example is here. If a visitor doesn’t have time for a tour or tours aren’t available, a wayside across the street could help the house come alive.
10. Leadership and Coordination – The common elements in all the above concerns are a lack of leadership and coordination for visitor experience efforts in the city. In fact, tourism is only addressed in the Comprehensive Plan as a parking issue. There is no positive direction. My final suggestion is that the City takes up this leadership challenge. There are opportunities to harness creativity and bring stakeholders together. Whether through a volunteer committee, a commission, or a paid employee, the City could do better to provide a high quality experience for our visitors.