Courtesy of Visitor CenterThis map shows the location of the temporary Visitor Center, where it will reside until it moves to a new location at the intersection of East Main Street and Northeast Spring Street. An all-new, interactive visitor center could come to downtown Pullman as early as next fall.

Mel Taylor, executive director of real estate for WSU, said the Visitor Center moved out of its location in the historical Pullman train depot last week.

The center is currently sharing space with The Bookie, Too on Northeast Stadium Way, where it will stay until WSU raises enough funds to move it to a permanent location in an empty lot near the intersection of East Main Street and Northeast Spring Street.

The total cost of the move and revamp is about $2.5 million, Taylor said. He said $1 million of that has already been raised from the sale of the space in the depot to Sterling Savings Bank. An additional $500,000 is available in designated Visitor Center funds, he said.

This leaves $1 million to raise. While Taylor doesn’t yet know where the remaining funding will come from, he said he expects to have the money in about a year.

The new center, which is part of the Pullman Campus Master Plan, will offer a whole new experience, Taylor said. It will place more emphasis on WSU’s history and the research conducted by the university.

“(It will be) more of a place to stop and learn about all things WSU,” he said.

Taylor said the new center will have more interactive features, such as video and touch screens, for users. It will also be bigger, which means more employees will be needed, he said.

Ian Skavdahl, a WSU alumnus, works part-time at the Visitor Center. While a lot of people liked the train depot location because of its historical importance, he said the move to the new space downtown will be good in the long run.

“It sounds like WSU has some cool plans for the location,” he said.

For more information about the center, visit http://visitor.wsu.edu/