Leaders of the Pro Football HOF, Canton City Schools, private investors and business leaders have "commissioned a study to see what it would take to turn the Hall of Fame into more than a campus," according to Todd Porter of the CANTON REPOSITORY. A "key part of that study would examine the addition of a four-star hotel and conference center" known as the Hall of Fame Village. HOF President & Exec Dir David Baker "thinks big -- Walt Disney-big." Baker said, "We have John Madden, Dick Butkus and 164 living Hall of Famers who stand for the kind of values and character people want to identify with." Porter reported a "cooperative public-private partnership of principal players is being formed, and a feasibility study is underway to see whether Stark County will support one of the largest tourism investments in the state’s history, and certainly the most significant development" to the HOF. The idea started with "renovating Fawcett Stadium out of a need to make the stadium safer." Baker: "This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to do something great. If we’re going to make it safer, isn’t this the moment to say, ‘Can we make it better?’ How can we do it better than we’ve ever done it?" NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said that the league would "support Baker’s vision for a Hall of Fame Village" (CANTON REPOSITORY, 9/14).
ALL ABOARD: The REPOSITORY's Porter wrote there are "two main reasons I believe something big will happen in the area surrounding" the HOF. First, Goodell is "behind the idea, and more than that, he believes in Baker’s vision and plan." Secondly, California-based Industrial Realty Group President & Chair Stuart Lichter is "on board." Lichter "doesn’t invest lots of his company’s money in projects that don’t go." The NFL has indicated it will have "skin in the game as well." It will be "interesting to see how many groups and people are willing to come on board once the feasibility study is complete" and the HOF "knows its direction" (CANTON REPOSITORY, 9/15).
