CALICO ROCK MUSEUM BENEFITS COMMUNITY
The Calico Rock Museum & Visitor Center welcomed 18,291 visitors through their doors in 2016, a 22% increase over previous years. Over 49,000 visitors were served by the museum through their websites, including www.explorecalico.com. This website lists every business that is licensed by the city of Calico Rock, at no cost to the business.
The museum displays and archives over 1,000 items, documents, videos, books, and photographs. The museum foundation owns six buildings including the heritage center and archives, the education center, a warehouse, the Printing Press Café, and the future art and science center.
The non-profit Calico Rock Museum Foundation operates the museum, Artisan Gift Shop, and the Printing Press Café. Every sale through the gift shop and café are taxed and generate sales tax revenue for the city, county and state. In 2016, the museum foundation generated over $136,000 in taxable sales. In addition to supporting the museum, every gift shop sale and café purchase helps provide paved streets and roads, law enforcement, city parks, libraries, and much more.
The museum supports our local businesses by attracting tourists, providing free advertising, and sharing information with visitors. All of this is free to our local businesses. The museum conducts educational programming for local school students, boy and girl scout troops, civic groups, and others. All of this is free to these students. Every visitor to town is encouraged to tour our museum exhibits, learn about our history, and see our art. Most of the visitors take us up on our invitation, admission is always free.
The museum hosts the annual Bootlegger Daze (a commemoration of The Bootleggers, the only major motion picture filmed in Calico Rock), the highly popular Mountain Man Rendezvous, and the Living Windows and Lighted Christmas Parade. All of these events are always free.
The Calico Rock Museum & Visitor Center has an estimated annual economic impact of at least $500,000. The museum foundation had four full-time and four part-time employees in 2016. In short, the museum benefits our local economy, serves our taxpayers, welcomes visitors, and makes a difference in our community.
To learn more about the museum, visit www.calicorockmuseum.com or call the museum at 870-297-6100.
