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Getting to Know... Sloan Bullough - Riverspark Visitors Center by Patricia Dumas Boaters from Italy and a tour group from California found a Web Site description of Troy so intriguing that they soon may visit our city. The Web Site is one of the ways that Troy's Riverspark Visitors Center publicizes the city's heritage and potential. Located near City Hall, the center is operated by the Hudson Mohawk Industrial Gateway under contract with the city. It was the first such center in New York State's Heritage Area System and the first of its type in the nation. Sloane Bullough, Center Manager, points with pride to recent recognition of the center. She reports that a writer for one of the oldest and most prominent boating-interest magazines in Italy is recommending Troy to its readership and Mountain Outin' Tours, Inc., based in Irvine, California, is scheduled to bring 20 people to Troy this month. The center's records show that it serves approximately 12,000 people a year. They visit its museum holdings and gift shop, view its award-winning slide show, call for information, and access the web site. During August and September last year, 2,255 people were served. A breakdown of that statistic translates to 1,775 visitors personally greeted, 219 telephone inquiries fielded, 237 individuals using the web site, and 24 packets of information mailed out in reply for requests about sites, lodging, restaurants, and shopping. Manager Sloane Bullough and Marketing Coordinator Joan Warrender work under the direction of Thomas Carroll, Executive Director of the Hudson Mohawk Industrial Gateway. They are helped by a varying number of volunteers. Ms. Bullough notes that more volunteers are urgently needed, especially to help on Saturdays. Her position as Visitor Center Manager enables Sloane Bullough to combine specialized training in heritage preservation with a long-standing interest in Troy. Her maternal grandfather, Edward "Dynamite" Fitzgerald, was Troy's mayor in the late 1950's. She studied at Roger Williams University in Rhode Island, earning a Bachelor or Arts degree in historic Preservation, worked as a volunteer with Hudson-Mohawk Gateway and currently is enrolled as a part-time graduate student at RPI. She resides in Troy with her husband, John, an engineer with RPI's Lighting Research Center. According to the enthusiastic Visitor Center Manager, Troy's waterfront accessibility, arts and technological resources, and industrial heritage are major factors in the city's appeal to tourists and in its revitalization efforts. "The Story Of Riverspark -- Water Ignites A City" is the slide show which visitors to the center can view to acquaint them with Troy's proud past as a major industrial city. The show is a Silver Cindy award-winner, having won in a competition sponsored by the Association of Visual Communicators. Ms. Bullough explains that the award in that media field is comparable to the motion picture Oscar. She would like to see more Trojans view the film which is very much appreciated by tourists. Riverspark Visitor Center hours are: llam - 6 pm Tuesday through Saturday Most Friday evenings until - 8 pm, Noon until 5 p.m. on the first Sunday each month. In cooperation with Troy United Ink Corp., a not-for-profit corporation 
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