Vincennes prepping for big impact from solar eclipse
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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowCommunities across Indiana are gearing up as up to one million stargazers come to the state to catch a glimpse of the total solar eclipse on April 8.
A significant swath of Indiana lies in the direct path of eclipse’s totality, and hotels, restaurants and retailers are now in full prep mode, looking to cash in.
One example: it will cost a visitor $1,750 per night to stay at a Hampton Inn in the Vincennes area, with a four night minimum.
Sarah Wolfe, the eclipse director in Vincennes, told Inside INdiana Business host Gerry Dick that the city worked early to get prepared and organized for the event.
“We’re not so small that we can’t support a big crowd,” and we’re not so big that we can’t pivot quickly if things need to change rapidly,” Wolfe said. “So one of the coolest things about being where we’re at and the size of community that we are is that kind of built in flexibility.”
Wolfe said the decision to hire someone for the position she holds also creates a sense of pride for how the city wanted to tackle logistics for the eclipse.
“To have that kind of support from the beginning well over a year ago has been really tremendously impactful, especially when I talk to other people who are frantically trying to get something together for this thing in the last couple weeks,” she said.
Vincennes will be the first point in the state where the eclipse will be visible, Wolfe said, and it will have the longest amount of darkness in Indiana at four minutes and five seconds.
Wolfe said demand from people looking for a place to view the eclipse is strong. On the day she spoke with Gerry Dick, she said she had spoken with people from Montana, Minnesota, New York and Florida all before 2 p.m.
While it’s unclear exactly how many people will arrive for the eclipse, Wolfe said they are estimating the population of Knox County to at least double.
“We know those people are going to buy gas. They’re going to buy food. They’re probably going to pay for lodging; our hotels have been booked for a pretty long time, and the rates are a lot higher than they normally are,” she said. “Between merchandise sales and just the general money that you got to spend to get from point A to point B, we’re hoping for a significant impact here on our community.”
One of the biggest challenges for the city, Wolfe said, is the logistics of getting people in and out of the area and helping them get to a parking space as quickly as possible.
“We know from past eclipses in other parts of the country that 80% of the people who travel for this kind of event leave right when totality ends,” she said. We know those moments afterwards on that Monday afternoon are really, really going to be congested. So if we can get people out with purpose and direction as fast as possible, that’s the goal. Additionally, when they’re coming in, if we can make sure that they’re not just wandering around looking for parking, if we can direct them immediately to parking, and not have them cruising around, that would be super helpful.”
Wolfe said officials are hoping to showcase the city and county particularly to adults who previously lived in the are and moved away as a means to potentially draw them back.
“I really want this to be an opportunity for that demographic, who often works remotely, who maybe has a little bit more disposable income if they don’t have children to come back and say, ‘Hang on a second, I could actually come back and live here. The cost of living is so low, I could really get a lot more bang for my buck working remotely and come back here and see my family more often and enjoy everything that Vincennes and Knox County has to offer.'”
IIB’s Cate Charron will have more on how rural Indiana communities are preparing for the eclipse later this week in the INside Edge newsletter.