Visit Oxford opens permanent welcome center inside renovated City Hall

Visit Oxford’s new welcome center inside City Hall made tourism a civic function, not a sideline. After years in leased space on East Jackson Avenue near the Square, the department moved into the renovated building in late March, taking a permanent place in the same downtown structure where city policy and daily operations now meet.

The move came after the Oxford Board of Aldermen approved the City Hall project in September 2024, with work estimated at about $675,000. Mayor Robyn Tannehill said the renovation should pay for itself in less than eight years because Visit Oxford would no longer pay rent. The department had leased its former office space from Dave and Anne Fair since 2015, and that lease was set to expire in 2025. The redesign created a dedicated visitor center on the basement level, a new east-side entrance that opens onto Pocket Park, and reconfigured main-floor offices for staff. A possible public bathroom on the main level was among the alternate ideas considered.

Inside the building, the move also reflected a broader reshuffling of city space. The former Oxford Police Department building was repurposed, freeing room in City Hall for Visit Oxford and other city functions. Renovation work began in August 2025, the first major interior renovation of Oxford City Hall since 1973. The building itself dates to the 1880s, when it was constructed as a federal building. It became City Hall in 1974 after a new federal building opened at 911 Jackson Avenue the year before. Visit Oxford’s new space still shows that history, with old mail slots visible and the former mail catch area turned into a counter.

Kinney Ferris, Visit Oxford’s executive director, said the department now has more square footage than it has ever dedicated to the visitor center, giving staff room to help travelers and locals with brochures, restaurant recommendations, lodging information and event details. The team has grown from four employees in 2009 to eight today, and the new layout puts offices upstairs with the visitor center below. Plans also call for a digital kiosk that would add maps, walking directions and other interactive tools.

The timing matters because Oxford’s visitor economy has grown into a major part of Lafayette County’s tax base and job market. Visit Oxford reported that visitors spent $208.5 million in Oxford during fiscal 2022-2023, generating $20.7 million in visitor taxes and supporting more than 4,800 direct jobs. In fiscal 2024, the agency said 1.6 million visitors made 15.5 million visits, with visitor spending in 2023 contributing $528 million to the local economy and more than 5,000 jobs directly supported by travel and hospitality in Lafayette County. During Double Decker Arts Festival, Visit Oxford estimated 100,300 attendees and $16.3 million in visitor spending. With the city requesting $607,000 for Visit Oxford’s budget and another $200,000 for Double Decker in fiscal 2024-2025, the new City Hall home signaled how closely Oxford now ties downtown planning, restaurants, hotels and events to the way the city presents itself.