For the little village of Canastota, the International Boxing Hall of Fame is a big deal that brings in big money.
But this, that big boost to Canastota is with no help from the state government.
“There isn’t any state funding that we will be receiving year,” said Ed Brophy, executive director of the Hall of Fame. For funds, Brophy said, the Hall of Fame will rely solely on private funding this year.
“These are very challenging times with the state budget,” Brophy said. But, he said, the Hall of Fame does “understand these challenges” for state lawmakers in appropriating tax dollars for tourist attractions.
The International Boxing Hall of Fame is in Canastota, about 26 miles east of Syracuse. Many halls of fame honoring a sport and its athletes are built where the sport originated. Think baseball and Cooperstown.
But for the Boxing Hall of Fame, the inspiration was Canastota’s personal connections to the boxing world. Out of Canastota came two great boxers — Carmen Basilio, and his nephew, Billy Backus. In 1955, Basilio won the world welterweight and middleweight championship. Later, Backus, won the world welterweight title.
To celebrate those two fighters, the village created the Hall of Fame in 1989, director Brophy said. That, he added, “reminded the world that boxing is something special to Canastotians.”
Today the sport of boxing is celebrated annually at the hall of fame with a four-day celebration during the second week of June. This year’s celebration will be June 9-12.
In past years, the Hall of Fame has received public support from the state. Last year, the Hall of Fame got $10,000, said state Sen. John DeFrancisco, R-Syracuse, who helped get the money for the village attraction. “A pittance,” DeFrancisco calls the state contribution, compared to the value of the Hall of Fame.
Canastota is not in the 50th state Senate District that DeFrancisco represents. But he credits the Hall of Fame with “putting Canastota on the map.” Added DeFrancisco: “Any establishment that provides the economic development that the Hall of Fame does deserves all the help from the state it can get.”
And every little bit counts, said Cathy Williams, the village’s clerk and treasurer. The village gives $8,000 to the Hall of Fame. “The $8,000 is a fee that Canastota pays the Hall of Fame for publicity purposes,” Williams said, “to help make the event known and benefit the village of Canastota because it brings a lot of people into our community.”
It’s a major major tourist attraction all year long, said Jim Walter, the Madison County Tourism board’s executive director. during the annual four-day celebration in June, traffic jumps dramatically. Then, said Walter, boxing fans travel to Central New York from around the world. Last year’s celebration, Walter said, drew visitors from 45 different states and several countries.
For Canastota and surrounding towns, the celebration is a source of major business, Walter said. Last year, about 1,000 hotel rooms were filled for four straight nights. Restaurants boomed too.
From economic studies, Walter estimated, the Hall of Fame generates $1.5 million in revenues each year.
In mid-December, the Hall of Fame announced that its 2011 inductees include Mike Tyson and Julio Cesar Chavez.
(Lauren Malinowski is a graduate student in broadcast and digital journalism.)
-30-
