Baseball Hall of Fame awarded nearly $5M in federal funds

COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. — Live venues and cultural institutions were among the hardest-hit industries during the pandemic, including the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown.

To help recover, the Baseball Hall of Fame will use nearly $5 million in federal funding that’s meant to help it move beyond the pandemic, the office of U.S. Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D–N.Y.) said in announcing the funding.

“The National Baseball Hall of Fame is the beating heart of Cooperstown and critically important to not only the Upstate NY economy, but the history of America,” Schumer said. “Museums were among the first to shut down at the start of the pandemic and will be among the last to fully recover. Local businesses in Otsego County depend on the thousands of visitors drawn to this world-renowned attraction.”

Cultural institutions like museums were folded into the Save Our Stages bill following Schumer’s effort to include them in the final deal to pass the Save Our Stages Act, providing $15 billion in emergency relief as part of last December’s COVID package, the Democrat’s office said. 

“Like all cultural organizations around the country, our museum has been significantly impacted by the COVID-19 crisis,” Jeff Idelson, interim president of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, said. “The challenges continue, as our attendance — and leisure travel in general — has not returned to pre-pandemic levels yet, though our work to tell the game’s stories and preserve its history never paused. Funding provided through the Shuttered Venue Operators Grant helps replace lost revenue enabling us to continue to fulfill our mission to preserve history, honor excellence and connect generations.”

The Shuttered Venue Operators Grant is previously known as the Save our Stages Act, per Schumer’s office.