News

Marietta, Ohio armory tourist site to get information kiosks for visitors

October 19, 2016

Armory Square, a tourist attraction in Marietta, Ohio, has launched its online version of the information kiosks to be placed within the historic armory, according to a report by The Parkersburg News-Sentinel in Parkersburg, West Virginia. The beta version of the site was created by Clayman and Associates, a local marketing firm.

"This online kiosk has been over a year in the making," said Jane Tumas-Serna, vice president of the nonprofit Armory Square Inc. "I tried to make sure the website was inviting and welcoming when you first open it. This is supposed to give people an idea of all that Marietta has to offer. And unlike other organizations sites, you don't have to be a paying member for your business's information to appear on the site."

The new website features multiple categories showcasing events, outdoor recreation and history throughout Marietta and the Ohio River Scenic Byways, a requirement of the $252,000 Ohio Department of Transportation Scenic Byways grant awarded to help renovate the ground floor of the armory.

Icons indicating where to eat, stay, shop and worship line the bottom of the kiosk followed by information on local farms and gardens, tourism destinations, community resources and service organizations.

"It's mobile optimized as well so anywhere your smart phone gets service you can pull up all of this information in one central location," said Harley Noland, president of Armory Square Inc.

The pair said once final edits are performed on the site, they will present it to city council and move forward with placing touchscreen kiosks in the ground floor hallway.

"We're going to install two different computers with 22-inch touch screen monitors in the hallway," he said. "They''l be tiny form-factor computers but for the kiosks I'll wipe the operating systems to install a kiosk operating system on them."

Steinel said by wiping the operating systems, he will be protecting the security of the kiosks and prevent any illicit use of the computers.