ItÕs
time for a Hall of Fame reality check
By
Mike Kroll
10
August 2006
Back
in March when the organizers of the National Railroad Hall of Fame made the big
announcement that they would construct a $60 million facility on land donated
by the City of Galesburg I was flabbergasted. My collection of doubts could be
summarized into three key points.
First,
along with most people following this project, I never expected it to be built
on part of Kiwanis Park. Giving up park land for this project doesnÕt seem
right when there is hardly a shortage of other available sites adjacent to the
Interstate (thereÕs plenty of room in the vacant Logistics Park), but I held my
tongue. Second, the ridiculously ambitious dollar figure seemed unattainable. I
immediately suspected that counting on the railroads for big donations was more
than wishful thinking (perhaps it was nŠive optimism), even before the Hall of
Fame organizers figured this out for themselves. And third, the notion that
this attraction would compare in success and popularity with the Baseball or
Football Halls of Fame or the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum
in Springfield is totally delusional.
As
we have learned more and more about the plans of this group, I have become
increasingly convinced that the Railroad Hall of Fame committee has lost touch
with reality. Now, before supporters of this project organize a lynch mob to
hunt me down, let me say I have no problem with the far more modest concept of
a National Railroad Hall of Fame as originally conceived by Bob Bondi. Nor
would I have felt it appropriate to point out how misguided the current
leadership of this project appears to be until they took it out of the realm of
a privately funded project and began soliciting tax money to fund the bulk of
it.
About
a month ago I reported here in the Zephyr on an interview with Denny Morrison,
the executive director of the National Railroad Hall of Fame, where he
confirmed that the group had learned, to the committeeÕs surprise, that big
money from the railroads was not forthcoming. He said the group was now
counting on more local support including significant sums from state, federal
and local government bodies. They hold out hope that the railroads will chip in
later once the Hall of Fame could demonstrate ÒsufficientÓ levels of local
support and that from the beginning the group was counting on big contributions
from federal and state government.
What
had changed is their interest in greater financial contributions from local
government.
Now
they are looking to the City of Galesburg and Knox County to step up with
substantial dollars.
During
the interview I pointed out that most local taxpayers would be bothered by this
at a time when both the City and County were struggling to fund the normal
scope of services. In fact, I suggested that most taxpayers wouldnÕt want to
see tax dollars spent on this project, especially if it meant tax increases. He
quickly stated that they had no intention of asking for additional sales or
property tax money but rather ÒÉsome other tax or fee that would be paid
largely by visitors to the communityÉÓ and pointed to the hotel-motel tax as
such an example. Only days later Morrison denied any interest in hotel-motel
tax dollars in a Register-Mail article. Regardless of the origin of the tax
dollars, the point remains that Morrison and the Hall of Fame are looking to
the taxpayers to foot much of the bill.
Apparently
the Hall of Fame board has no problem taking tax dollars that canÕt be directly
traced to new or higher taxes. With virtually no public discussion the City has
already chipped in an additional $250,000 and expects to be asked for more,
according to City Manager Gary Goddard. At MondayÕs City Council meeting the
most controversial agenda item was a proposal to create a new one percent sales
tax on prepared food and alcoholic beverages that was estimated to raise about
$440,000 annually. During a break, Goddard told me that one of his motivations
behind this new tax was the expectation of further funding requests from the
Railroad Hall of Fame committee. You neednÕt be a genius to note that there are
plenty of more worthy city needs requiring funding.
Outside
of public view, Morrison has also asked perpetually cash-strapped Knox County
for a large contribution, reportedly in the area of $150,000. Amazingly, some
county board members even want to give it too them! Ignoring for a moment the
disturbing secrecy of such discussions, I have to ask how absurd an idea is it
for a county government that fought to regain financial sanity to willingly
squander their small positive cash flow on what at best amounts to a widely
speculative investment?
Knox
County Treasurer Robin Davis is sympathetic to the Railroad Hall of Fame but
acknowledges that Knox County has no extra funds at this time. ÒIf they really
think the taxpayers would want to support a public expenditure for this, let
them put it on the ballot. We can do a referendum for a museum tax and let the
voters speak on this.Ó
The
supposed justification for these public contributions to a private endeavor is
economic development. Morrison and his committee have positioned the National
Railroad Hall of Fame as a major economic development opportunity and this fits
in nicely with those in Galesburg who nŠively believe that local tourism could
be a substitute for real economic development. It seems highly unlikely the $60
million goal will ever be raised even if the Hall of Fame continues to feast at
the expense of taxpayers. We must remember that even federal and state tax
dollars are still raised from the sweat of taxpayers and can be more properly
spent on schools, roads and public services. And, letÕs suppose only $20-30
million (or less) is raised, will they still build it? Will they still come? If
not, what will become of the tax dollars already contributed? How much tax
money is being spent on administrative costs of the fund raising effort without
public oversight? At the very least there should be open accountability for how
tax dollars are expended.
Assuming
the Hall of Fame is built, can it live up to its expectations? The committee
has announced a projected attendance of 200,000-300,000, presuming that our
National Railroad Hall of Fame will be comparable to the Abraham Lincoln
Presidential Library and Museum in Springfield. And they have also compared
this effort to well-known sports equivalents. But are these fair comparisons or
pipe dreams?
The
Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio has existed for 43 years and
attracted 183,399 paid visitors in 2005 and averaged less than 190,000 visitors
annually over the last decade, according to a spokeswoman there. And attendance
is not spread evenly across the year either. Nearly 30,000 attend the Pro
Football Hall of Fame on induction day alone for the Hall of Fame game.
The
situation is somewhat different with the 67-year-old Baseball Hall of Fame.
Cooperstown, N. Y. is a village much smaller and even more remote than
Galesburg. It bills itself as ÒAmericaÕs hometown.Ó It 2,000+ residents live 35
miles from the closest Interstate highway and 90 miles from the nearest airport
with scheduled passenger service. Brad Hall, public relations director for the
Baseball Hall of Fame, says their average annual attendance over the last 15
years has been about 350,000 with 70 percent of that between Memorial Day and
Labor Day.
Interestingly,
Hall said the key to success in a Hall of Fame is Òthe ability to create an
emotional connection with your visitor. No other sport has that level of
connection with most Americans and we nurture it by displaying artifacts that
create emotional connections in time with our visitors. You donÕt just pass
through Cooperstown. Our visitors make a point to come here and we strive to
give them reasons to return again and again.Ó The Baseball Hall of Fame does
include multimedia exhibits but they are not Òthe backbone of our attractionÓ
or the key draw according to Hall.
Comparing
the Railroad Hall of Fame to the Football or Baseball Halls of Fame seems
ludicrous. Arguably, there are many more football fans than railroad buffs and
baseball can claim the largest and most devoted fan base of any American sport.
The Railroad Hall of Fame is quaint by comparison and isnÕt really being aimed
at rail fans anyway. One sign of this is the nature of the inductees. Most
railroad buffs are retired or active railroaders or have family ties to
railroaders. They would be eager to see the common men who helped build
American railroads honored but instead the Hall of Fame is stuck on 19th
century robber barons, little-known inventors, and industrialists from then and
now. A banker who loaned the money to start a railroad has more chance of being
inducted than any mere railroad worker. When this becomes clear to potential
visitors it will not have a positive impact on attendance.
But
a key point made by both is that attendance doesnÕt happen overnight and doesnÕt
maintain itself without constant attention to updating and enhancing the
exhibits. Both of these sports halls of fame and most others depend greatly on
memorabilia that our local organizers are dismissing as irrelevant. Perhaps
they are right, after all stock certificates, contracts and promissory notes
arenÕt exciting memorabilia. Even the Lincoln Museum blends the multimedia with
a good collection of memorabilia and takes advantage of numerous other Lincoln
sites in the immediate Springfield area and the general love of all things
Lincoln nationally.
Comparing
the Railroad Hall of Fame to any of these is highly presumptuous. It remains
unclear to me what will make this a compelling draw for tourists.
While
I am totally supportive of a private group pursuing the National Railroad Hall
of Fame with private resources I remain highly skeptical of their grandiose expectations.
It bothers me even more when they have conned this community into believing
their project will be the solution to GalesburgÕs economic development quest.
Tourism will not save Galesburg nor will it create significant numbers of
good-paying full-time jobs.
This
project is an unfortunate distraction when the attention of our community
leaders should be on making Galesburg a more attractive place to live and do
business. Spending tax dollars on a project like this when there are so many
compelling yet unfunded projects is fiscally irresponsible of our elected
officials.