Mike Wolanin | The Republic An exterior view of the Columbus Area Visitors Center in Columbus, Ind., Tuesday, Sept. 30, 2025.
The Columbus Area Visitors Center will celebrate its 30th anniversary today with a celebration at the center at 506 Fifth St.
The event will be at 5 p.m. with a program and plaque unveiling at 5:30 p.m. on the west steps of the building, the same location where Xenia Miller dedicated the center 30 years ago. The event is free and open to the public.
During the original dedication, visitors center staff first lit the center’s chandelier, designed by Dale Chihuly, an artist specializing in glass sculptures.
“It’s really just a celebration of 30 years of welcoming people into our building,” said Erin Hawkins, the director of partnerships and communications at the visitors center. “We’re really fortunate that we have such a beautiful space.”
The visitor’s center is the starting point for the Columbus architectural tours.
During the celebration, there will be a video from 1995 that has footage of the original dedication with Miller and shows the chandelier being turned on for the first time. This video will be looping in the center’s video room as well as a video of Chihuly’s team installing the chandelier in the building.
“It’s pretty incredible to see the naked framework before they started wiring on the glass pieces,” Hawkins said. “It is 900 individual, hand blown pieces of glass that make up the chandelier.”
The building housing the center was built by John V. Storey in 1864 as his home. Since then, the building has had many different uses, including serving as a furniture store, newspaper offices, furniture store and others.
“I think it’s important to pause and look back on where we started and reflect on where we’re heading,” Hawkins stated. “It also is a great moment to celebrate and acknowledge all of the people that have been a part of our organization for years.”
