TIC is in the wrong box!

Yesterday, we wrote about Boston Library, and why we thought it needed improvements.
The steady neglect of core public services is something that should worry us all, yet too often a gradual slide in quality not merely goes unnoticed, but seems almost to be actively encouraged.
We believe something like this is behind the gradual decline in promotion of tourism in Boston.
After spending mountains of money on the restoration on the historic Guildhall and opening it in a fanfare of fancy dress, the place emerged from years of closure as a sanitised, noisy non-attraction, lacking anything by way of character.
It now languishes, barely visited, with its hours set to be still further reduced, whilst that great White elephant just down the road - the Haven - is also to open for fewer hours.
And of course, the Tourist Information Centre is also to move yet again, from the Haven to the Guildhall, where it will presumably pursue its policy of only providing information on attractions in a 50 mile radius.
In Lincoln, the City Council has taken the unusual step of closing both its TICs from September – making the city the only major historic location in the country without a walk-in facility.
The centres will be replaced with a telephone and internet service.
We wonder how long it will be before Boston uses the Lincoln option as justification to close our local facility altogether.
Whilst the town's heritage is trumpeted by the council, when it comes down to it, we really have only the Stump (which was refused financial help to help mark its 700th anniversary this year) and the Guildhall, which will soon be mostly closed.
In Spalding, which many think has less on offer than Boston, there is a terrific TIC ... so what has gone wrong here?
We suggested a while ago that it would be a good idea to relocate Boston's TIC inside the Stump.
It makes a lot of sense, as the church is the place people make a beeline for when they visit the town.
The council could also pay a small "rent" to the parish for the space, which would give it a welcome boost in this crucial year in its history.
If something isn't done soon to promote Boston more enthusiastically, the powers that be might as well stop boasting about its attractiveness as a tourist venue and shut up shop once and for all.

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