McArthur will break ground Monday on a building meant to do two jobs at once: welcome visitors to Vinton County and honor Ohio’s law enforcement officers. The groundbreaking for the new Vinton County Visitor’s Center and Ohio Law Enforcement Museum is set for Monday, November 9, at 11 a.m. at 106 S. Market Street in McArthur, according to the Athens Messenger.
The ceremony, hosted by Discover Vinton County, the county’s tourism department, will begin with a lineup of speakers and give residents a first look at sketches of what the finished building will look like, the Athens Messenger reported. The newspaper directed readers to Discover Vinton County’s official Facebook page for updates on the project.
The project is made possible courtesy of funding from the America 250-Ohio Commission, according to the Athens Messenger. The commission — formally the Ohio Commission for the United States Semiquincentennial — was established by the Ohio General Assembly in 2022 to plan Ohio’s commemoration of the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States, and it makes grants to nonprofit, educational and local-government organizations for commemorative and educational projects.
The new center is aimed squarely at the visitor economy that sustains Ohio’s least populous county. Vinton County sits in the Hocking Hills region and is more than 70 percent wooded, with state parks, a state forest, part of a national forest and more than 70 miles of hiking, horseback and mountain-bike trails — the landscape a visitor center exists to introduce.
The Market Street site sits in McArthur’s small downtown, a block from Main Street and the Vinton County Courthouse. It is a separate project from the county visitors bureau’s restoration of the historic Hotel McArthur on East Main Street, which the bureau bought in 2021 to return to use as lodging and visitor space.
What happens next: Monday’s 11 a.m. groundbreaking in McArthur, with speakers and building sketches, hosted by Discover Vinton County. No opening date, construction budget or building size was announced in the Athens Messenger’s preview, and updates are expected through Discover Vinton County’s official page.