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Jul 21, 2023

Will the solar eclipse pass over Evansville, Indiana?

EVANSVILLE — Evansville businesses have been girding for an influx of visitors

EVANSVILLE — Evansville businesses have been girding for an influx of visitors in April 2024 comparable to the World War II population boom, when the city became a center of wartime manufacturing.

Visit Evansville estimates 50,000 to 80,000 out-of-town visitors will come to the area in one weekend, spending $7.7 million on lodging, transportation, retail, recreation and food and beverages.

What's the attraction? Evansville is directly in the narrow Texas-to-Maine path of the total solar eclipse that will occur April 8. The sun gradually will be eclipsed by the moon, bringing total darkness for slightly more than three minutes at 2:02 p.m. in Evansville and six seconds later in Henderson, Ky. Henderson is expected to have about two minutes and 30 seconds of totality.

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It won't be a mere celestial event. It will be a happening.

"It's like a mini-Super Bowl, that's what it's been compared to," said Amber Phillips, eclipse project manager for Visit Evansville. "Totality and tourism go hand in hand."

Visit Evansville arrived at the eye-popping projections from an estimate for Indiana published by GreatAmericanEclipse.com, which analyzed population distributions and road networks.

Numerous area hotels already are sold out for the night before the solar eclipse, according to online searches. Others are charging prices guaranteed to make consumers blink.

Super 8 by Wyndham Evansville East was asking $389 for the night of April 7 on Friday, according to Priceline. Extended Stay America Suites Evansville East wanted $859. The price at Courtyard by Marriott Evansville East: $944.

Evansville was only on the fringes of the "path of totality" traced across the Earth by the moon's shadow as it crossed the sun on Aug. 21, 2017. That year's total solar eclipse was the first such celestial event to hit North America in 38 years.

The Evansville area wasn't in position to see a total eclipse, which happens when the moon completely blocks the sun from the sky. Local residents still bought shareable, reusable and inexpensive protective glasses in numbers that forced convenience stores, sporting goods stores and other suppliers to scramble to meet demand.

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And they flocked along with people from other states and nations to Hopkinsville, Kentucky, dubbed the ideal place to watch. As the moon made its trek across the country, it would be closest to the Earth when it passed Hopkinsville. It was the darkest point along the path of totality.

The current focus of planners is the weekend immediately preceding the total solar eclipse, which occurs on a Monday.

"I would imagine that kids away from college will come back, will come home and visit their family members that are still here, or will visit friends that they know here because they won't be able to get a hotel room," said Josh Armstrong, president of Downtown Evansville-Economic Improvement District. "So, I think that (50,000-80,000) number may be even a little low."

It is imperative that local businesses plan ahead on everything from gasoline to how much coffee to have in stock, Armstrong said.

"We definitely want our businesses open, but they certainly need to be cognizant of the pressure this is going to put on everything from when their items are going to be delivered to how many of their employees are going to ask for the time off," he said.

Visit Evansville has been hosting monthly Regional Eclipse Task Force meetings for more than a year to share information and advice about how to help businesses and organizations plan for the influx of people. Phillips said there are planning committees for advertising and promotion, lodging and accommodations, community engagement, events and education and public safety.

No specific plans are in place, though. Not yet.

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"Everybody is really hesitant to pull the trigger on some planning right now," Phillips said. "A lot of everybody is just like, 'Ah, we don't know yet, but we’re planning.'"

On the day of the big event, Armstrong said, crowds likely will gather in all manner of large open spaces — riverfronts, parks, Evansville State Hospital, Deaconess Sports Park. Bleachers and road barricades may be part of the equation, he said, but it's too early to know.

Early April in Evansville? The weather is a wild card. Being outside in the afternoon when everything goes completely and totally dark for three minutes would still be an experience to remember, Armstrong said.

When it's all over, planners expect a mass exodus that will pose its own challenges.

"It will be a pretty intense situation for several hours, as people try to start getting back to wherever it is they came from," Armstrong said.

The next Regional Eclipse Task Force is set for 10 a.m. July 20 at the University of Southern Indiana.