City Councilor believes Basketball Hall of Fame is under-utilized

May 26, 2021 | G. Michael Dobbs
news@thereminder.com

SPRINGIELD – A Springfield city councilor believes the Basketball Hall of Fame is under-utilized and has asked the city’s chief development officer in develop a revitalization plan.

Sean Curran addressed the letter to Timothy Sheehan, Springfield’s chief development officer. Curran said,  “We should consider constructing a 21st century basketball complex on river.  A modern facility, with gyms, concessions, scoreboards, lights, and sound effects.”

That facility would attract youth program as well as AAU athletics, he added. This model would be more similar to that of the Baseball Hall of Fame, he added.

John Doleva, president and CEO of the Hall of Fame, responded to Curran’s letter at the request of Reminder Publishing. He said, “In sum I appreciate his thoughts and his ideas for productive infrastructure to leverage the Basketball Hall of Fame’s presence in Springfield; to maximize the utilization and economic development for the region it does have to be a first class, indoor tournament facility as basketball can be played year-round if courts are protected from the elements and have the expected level of amenities. A well-developed facility also could be used for other sports in shoulder seasons – both tournaments and training – that would further enhance the facilities ROI for its developers. I would expect entities that depend on tourism would embrace the idea as well to build significant and consistent traffic to the region.”

Curran wrote, “I write to respectfully suggest that the city, perhaps in conjunction with Mass Development, step in to come up with a Hall of Fame revitalization plan.  

“We have an underutilized Hall of Fame, a fact which is highlighted by that fact that this year's induction ceremony will be held at Mohegan Sun Casino, this weekend.” he continued.

“We need a plan to make the Hall of Fame a living museum.  Its current composite is not as dynamic as other Hall of Fames.

“I think a great model to look to is the Baseball Hall of Fame.

“The Baseball Hall of Fame, has a youth tournament every year, with teams across the country playing baseball. They built seven baseball fields, where players, family and friends, come from across the country to Cooperstown, NY. to play in the Hall of Fame tournament,” he continued.

“The Basketball Hall of Fame can do the same thing, perhaps on a larger scale, all year round.

“AAU basketball, is one of the most vibrant leagues in the country.  Each year, hundreds of youth basketball players participate in AAU tournaments.  Nike has just started a youth basketball league, so has Addis.  

“We saw last year the excitement generated in the region, when Lebron James’ son, arrived at Springfield College to participate in one such tournament.  3,500 fans flooded into a packed Springfield College arena.

“We should be running these tournaments all year long!  Springfield is ‘Hoop City.’

“Why not advocate for the construction of eight basketball courts along the river, to attract such tournaments?  

Basketball teams from across the country and maybe the world, will be clamoring to play in a Hall of Fame tournament in the City of Springfield.

“We should consider constructing a 21st century basketball complex on river.  A modern facility, with gyms, concessions, scoreboards, lights, and sound effects.

“Youth basketball would jump at the chance to participate in a Basketball Hall of Fame tournament.  Imagine overlooking the riverfront, with hundreds, perhaps thousands of fans coming to watch the best basketball talent in country; it will bring some energy and vibrancy to the Hall.  

“A renewed focus on AAU basketball tournaments, on the riverfront and York Street jail complex will go a long way to making the Hall a living museum.

“You might attract some NBA stars to such an event.  

“Right now all of the NBA stars will be at Mohegan Sun Casinos this week, watching Michael Jordan induct Kobe Bryant into the Hall of Fame, this is an event that should have happened in Springfield.  

“Let’s not lose the Hall of Fame; let’s bring it back to life.”

In response, Doleva wrote, “ I greatly appreciate Mr. Curran’s enthusiasm for development of basketball related infrastructure in the city; if we use the model of the Baseball Hall of Fame, private investment and development has created the ‘Field of Dreams’ concept that welcomes hundreds of young baseball teams from around the country who play games in Cooperstown, eat at local establishments, and have family occupy hotel rooms all summer. That model could work in Springfield with the Basketball Hall of Fame as a very distinctive and unique anchor; this has been a subject on the Greater Springfield Convention and Visitors Bureau infrastructure list for some time.

“The idea has been discussed with a few private developers over the years but there has not been significant traction primarily due to cost and return on investment; public dollars were not contemplated in previous discussions though as a development stimulus

“His comments about Enshrinement 2020 don’t seem to fully grasp the various Covid limitations that prohibited us from being in Springfield for this enshrinement; you have my previous note on that subject. We would have been in Springfield for this month’s event if we could have but for Covid and its impact.

“I’ll accept his assertion that the Basketball Hall of Fame is not as dynamic ‘in its current composite’ if that relates to surrounding and supporting infrastructure; he may not be fully aware of our $21 million reimagining of the Hall of Fame that has taken place; I’d compare our new museum execution with any in sports today and that’s good news if there is infrastructure possibilities that can be built around a new and exciting museum experience

“The Hall of Fame is responsible for producing the annual Hoophall Classic at Springfield College (LeBron reference) , Jr. Hoophall (Youth teams four-day event), is a partner in the Hooplandia 3-on-3 event at Eastern States (now moved to 2022), and is likely bringing a USA Basketball 3-on-3 Olympic qualifying event to the city in the early summer this year. These are just examples of events built to support and leverage our presence in the city.

“We’ll be announcing next Sunday the Class of 2021 electees and our plans to return to Springfield in September 2021 so any fear of the Hall of Fame ‘leaving’ has been a misunderstanding of the impact of Covid on our ability to operate an enshrinement event in Springfield at present.”

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