The Woodland City Council approved the allocation of its remaining lodging tax advisory committee funds and a lease agreement for a new downtown welcome center during its Monday, April 6, meeting, a notable shift in how the city plans to promote tourism following the recent closure of the Woodland Visitor Center.
Most of the remaining $25,000 in funds was awarded to Downtown Woodland Revitalization (DWR), totaling $19,000. Under a separate agreement approved the same day, DWR will lease the city-owned Civic Center at 211 Lakeshore Drive to operate a public-facing welcome center and organizational hub.
The lease runs from April 6 through Dec. 31, 2026, with a monthly base rent of $1,000 plus utilities and applicable taxes. The nonprofit will be responsible for maintenance, insurance and compliance. The city retains ownership and oversight of the property.
The decision follows months of discussion about how to use remaining lodging tax funds after the Woodland Chamber of Commerce closed the Visitor Center near Exit 21 in January. The council had previously proposed splitting $50,000 between the chamber and DWR, but the chamber said it needed $40,000 to continue operations. The council instead kept $25,000 in reserve, leaving that amount unallocated after the chamber ultimately received no funding.
DWR received $19,000 from the remaining funds in this latest round, with its application emphasizing tourism promotion, event development and operation of a tourism-related facility. The group indicated in its application materials that it plans to use the Civic Center as a welcome center.
Aaron Brown, DWR’s media outreach specialist, said the organization sees the new space as central to its efforts moving forward.
“It’s important for Woodland to have a centralized welcome center that is a place that people from all around can come and be welcomed to the city of Woodland,” he said. “DWR will also use it as a central place to be able to meet and plan for a lot of exciting events that are coming to Woodland.”
In the application approved by LTAC and the City Council, DWR noted the intention to rent the civic center on several occasions.
“We have received $25,000 (in LTAC funds) for this year,” The applicant wrote, referring to the funds allocated in late 2025. “We believe the best use of these funds is to start by leasing the civic center. We will have to operate with volunteers until we can afford a part-time person.”
The Reflector sought to clarify whether city-allocated lodging tax funds will be used to cover rent for the city-owned facility. Brown said he could not confirm the detail, but said the process would be permissible after speaking with city officials.
“It is applicable if we wanted to,” Brown said. “It’s been reviewed that those funds could, in fact, be used for any of the topics we’ve discussed today. But again, since we are a donation-based organization, we have the ability to use it as a general fund.”
DWR leaders have said the funding will support both promotion and expansion of events such as Hot Summer Nights, as well as new initiatives still in development. The organization also noted plans for additional events, including a potential first-quarter event and a third-quarter membership and volunteer drive.
Brown said the welcome center will differ significantly from the former visitor center model.
“It’ll be a far, far more robust resource for the community, Woodland (and) for Cowlitz County,” he said. “With these funds, we’ll have reach throughout the entire state of Washington and the greater Pacific Northwest.”
DWR has historically relied on grants from the city, Cowlitz County, community organizations and corporate sponsorships, and operates as an all-volunteer nonprofit.
“We are very grateful to work with the city of Woodland,” Brown said. “We’re very grateful and humbled (by) the LTAC funds, both the original and the additional funds. We plan to bring even bigger events to the city than in previous years.”
In addition to DWR’s allocation, the Hulda Klager Lilac Gardens received $2,000 to support a new fall festival event, while the Woodland Senior Enrichment Group received the remaining $4,000 for tourism-related programming tied to an event at the gardens.
Mari Ripp, executive director of the Hulda Klager Lilac Gardens, said the funding will help launch a new community event later this year.
“We are going to be using this $2,000 to promote a brand new event for the lilac gardens. It’s going to be the fall festival on September 19th, a Saturday, a communitywide event. We’re hoping to bring in people from all over,” she said.
The event will coincide with the gardens’ 50th anniversary and feature an “America 250” theme, with activities designed to draw visitors to Woodland.
