Excelsior’s First Welcome Center Unites Community

Lake-area history buffs can learn more about our area’s rich past when they visit Excelsior’s first-ever welcome center, which celebrated its grand opening in June. In partnership with the Museum of Lake Minnetonka and the Minnesota Streetcar Museum, the center will provide residents and visitors alike with local historical information at its prominent location on Water Street. “We thought it would be the perfect storm for us to be under one roof,” says Excelsior-Lake Minnetonka Chamber of Commerce executive director Laura Hotvet. The chamber welcome center offers many resources for visitors. Rotating historical displays adorn the center common area, which is staffed entirely by volunteers. According to Hotvet, plans for interactive video displays and a community public restroom are already underway for the fall. Visitors may also purchase books from area authors as well as postcards, apparel and tickets to local events—including trolley and steamboat tours—in the chamber welcome center lobby.