Pardon us, if we offer just the slightest hesitation over pursuit of the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame for Duluth.
Our hesitation has nothing to do with the merits of the hall. We think it has great potential and that no one will find a better place for it than in Duluth.
The hall closed its doors in Eveleth because it could only draw 10,000 visitors per year. Duluth's Canal Park sometimes draws 10,000 visitors in a single day.
Placing the center in a remote village far off the beaten path makes success more difficult. Duluth may not be at the crossroads of America, but it does know how to market itself.
While Cooperstown, N.Y., home to baseball's hall, Canton, Ohio (football), and Springfield, Mass., (basketball), are not metropolises, they all are closer to the nation's main thoroughfares and major cities than is Eveleth. People who visit halls of fame are mostly people with time on their hands -- e.g. vacationers.
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What better spot for the Hockey Hall of Fame than in hockey crazy Duluth, which already has a well-developed tourism base? The hall would simply add to that mix, making Duluth an even more attractive place to visit.
Other communities expressing interest include St. Paul and the Mall of America in Bloomington. While both are in a major metro area, the hall would be dwarfed in either community by all the other attractions. The Mall of America may be a tourist destination to some, but St. Paul is hardly top of mind as a destination when it comes to taking a week off from work.
Regardless, our hesitation comes from the details. How will the center be funded? Who will pay how much? If it becomes a bidding war between city governments, Duluth should drop out quickly. The city needs to get its employee health care costs under control first before it considers additional financial obligations.
Plus, as we are seeing, other projects are worthy of merit, too. The city is weighing a proposed $40 million gift from the Salva-tion Army for a new community center in West Duluth. It is also angling for state funding of a new arena at the DECC and construction of the Heritage Hockey Center in West Duluth. They all deserve priority.
Duluth would be a great place to locate the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame, but city taxpayers cannot afford to play a major role. Better that local hockey enthusiasts organize a private fund drive to finance and endow moving the hall to Duluth.
