Schuylkill Heritage Area unveils interactive gateway in Manayunk

Visitors who walk into the Manayunk Development Corporation’s office on Main Street will now be greeted with a new interactive touch screen computer and wall map courtesy of the Schuylkill Heritage Area.

Members of the MDC and Schuylkill Heritage Area unveiled the new gateway center on Wednesday, May 25. Schuylkill Heritage Area executive director Kurt Zwikl says the information gateway center is the 19th point of interest throughout Philadelphia, Chester, Berkes, Montgomery and Schuylkill counties to be treated with maps, touch-screen video display and educational pamphlets. The gateway center speaks to the history and culture of the Schulylkill, both as a whole and its Manayunk section. “We try to tie them into tourist destinations to raise the visibility of the area,” says Zwikl, who has served as executive director of the non-profit group for eight years.

Zwikl says designating the Manayunk Development Corporation as a Schuylkill gateway center made sense because Main Street receives a lot of visitors from the neighborhood and beyond. Zwikl says the Schuylkill Heritage Area’s other major projects for the summer include the Schuylkill River Sojourn, a 112-mile guided tour for canoes and kayakers being offered from June 4 through 10, with spaces still available from June 7 through 10.