So, our Manchester Coffee County Convention Center, one of the few amenities we have in the area, is going to be turned into government office space and a tourist welcome center. We’re doing this to attract more tourists to the area. OK.

The question is: What, exactly, are we attracting tourists to? We have nothing man-made in the area that is not in abundance elsewhere in the state and country. I guess we have the HOSC and the Staggerwing Museum, but are these really going to be big draws? We haven’t built the Arnold Heritage and Innovation Center. Are we expecting folks to flock here to sit at the Celtic Cup or have a burger at Jiffy Burger? To see our Walmarts? Just hiring people to attract people to an area will not attract people if there is nothing there to see. Government offices are not a huge tourist draw.

Now, we do have great natural attractions. But we already have so many people at Short Springs that it is almost impossible for locals to go. (This has been made worse by our local officials deciding to put up no parking signs rather than expand parking.) Rutledge Falls is also now crowded all the time since the internet discovered it. Aren’t the lakes crowded enough? Why would we want more people to come? These are attractions that cost the citizens almost nothing to maintain. We don’t need outsiders to help support them. Personally, I’m going to write reviews talking about the giant leeches I’ve gotten from swimming there.

And let’s say that they somehow succeed at attracting lots of tourists. Sure, city and county government would have lots of money coming in and be able to build some nice office buildings and give themselves big salaries. But have you driven through Pigeon Forge lately? Do we really want that traffic? Do we want Bonnaroo crowds 365 days each year? And have all of those junk stores like are in Gatlinburg with beach towels being sold in what was once a beautiful mountain town? Folks in Coffee County and Manchester really need to ask their officials how this improves their lives.

Joseph Sheeley

Tullahoma