NATCHEZ — Instead of navigating their own way to a smiling face welcoming them to Natchez, tourists are now immediately greeted as they step into the Natchez Visitor Reception Center.

The center has relocated the pilothouse, formerly toward the center of the lobby, to just inside the front doors. A staff member is now stationed behind a desk in the pilothouse to answer questions and direct visitors.

To relocate the pilothouse, the center dismantled the lighted topographical map diorama previously at the entrance and mounted it on the wall outside the theater at the center.

“You really get a whole different experience,” Tourism Director Jennifer Ogden Combs said

The changes are just a couple of several recently made to the center in ongoing efforts to improve the visitor experience at the center, Combs said.

The city’s tourism operation has been able to fund improvements from money leftover from last year’s Natchez Tricentennial celebration.

Improvements include creating more guest seating by relocating back office furniture to the lobby and hanging curtains to minimize less attractive areas of the center in need of repair.

While no comprehensive plan or cost estimates have been done, Combs said the center is eyeing various other improvements.

With Spring Pilgrimage ending, Combs said fewer visitors would be in the center, allowing staff to do a deep cleaning of the building.

Combs said she would also like to see the concrete pools near the waterfall feature in the building’s courtyard turned into green space.

When filled with water, the pools, Combs said, are in constant need of attention, because leaves and other debris get into the water.

Near the colonnades at the center, benches are being installed in partnership with community organizations, and leftover tricentennial money is funding the installation of a fence along the edge of the bluff.

“We want to make sure we make that area safe for people to enjoy,” Combs said.

Combs said she would also like to see that area get a binocular machine so visitors could get a closer view of the river and bridge.

Some needs at the center are more urgent than others, including a constantly leaking roof, Combs said. Near the rear of the lobby, paint is peeling off an archway that was recently painted because of water damage.

The center also has an outdated heating and air-conditioning system, among other concerns, she said.The visitor center houses a handful of different operations, including the state welcome center, National Park Service, Natchez Pilgrimage Tours, the Natchez Convention Promotion Commission and the city’s Office of Tourism Management.

City, park service, state and tourism officials have had an ongoing conversation for some time about the future ownership and management of the city-owned building.

The park service pays 52 percent of operating and maintenance costs at the center, with the city covering the other 48 percent and other tenants paying rent. NPS officials recently offered little hope that the park service would take ownership of the building.

The city historically also has received money rom the state for operations and maintenance costs at the visitor center. This year, the amount was $150,000.

A request for $150,000 has not been approved by state lawmakers and that issue will be taken up in an upcoming special session.

Combs said lawmakers have discussed cutting the funding to $100,000 per year or eliminating it all together, but Sen. Bob Dearing, D-Natchez, has said he would fight to keep it at $150,000.