The Festival Country Indiana visitor center in downtown Franklin is seen in a March 2020 photo.
Daily Journal Archive Photo
News from around Johnson County as reported on June 8 in the pages of the Daily Journal and the Franklin Evening Star from the last 111 years.
On this day in 2020, one of the stories on the front page of the Daily Journal was about the impending, though delayed, opening of the county’s visitor center.
The Festival Country Indiana Visitor Center in downtown Franklin was originally set to open in March 2020, but then the coronavirus pandemic delayed this by a few months. By early June 2020, the hope was for the center to open on June 16, the first business day after Gov. Eric Holcomb’s Back on Track plan allows, said Ken Kosky, director of Festival Country.
The visitor center focuses on interactive exhibits that show, instead of telling, visitors what they can experience in Johnson County. For example, visitors can step inside an apple to experience agri-tourism, or sit in a go-kart to experience Whiteland Raceway park.
Because of these interactive experiences, frequent cleaning and sanitizing stations were a must to ensure visitors were safe, Kosky said.
“We need to provide not only a fun experience but also a safe experience for visitors,” he said.
The visitor center was planning a soft opening with a grand opening celebration to be held later that summer, in July or August, he said.
Though the opening was delayed, and some festivals the commission promoted were delayed or canceled altogether, there is hope. With pent up demand from people staying home, Kosky hoped to see many check out what Johnson County had to offer.
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Other memorable Johnson County stories from this day
2012
Vigilance was urged in the wake of 12 church burglaries across Johnson County.
2000
New Whiteland residents were saying rats were running rampant in their backyards that border the Scott-High bridge ditch in West Park.
1996
The city of Franklin was considering creating a new city government site at a vacant Walmart site on North Morton Street. The city ultimately did not, and the site is now a Big Lots and a Tractor Supply.
