MERCER COUNTY Distribution pact would help Vocal Hall of Fame to pay debt

Hall officials dispute a former partner's claim that things are at a standstill.
By HAROLD GWIN
VINDICATOR SHARON BUREAU
SHARON, Pa. -- The Vocal Group Hall of Fame is about to sign a media product distribution agreement that will pay off the hall's debt.
Atty. Ron Amrhein, representing the hall, said the contract with a distribution company for the hall's DVDs, CDs and other media products from its 2002 and 2003 induction concerts are sitting on his desk waiting for final approvals.
The contract provides for international distribution of those products.
Bob Crosby, president and chief executive officer of the Vocal Group Hall of Fame Foundation, said the deal will be enough to at least pay off the hall's $200,000 debt.
How much it generates beyond that depends on how many of the products are sold, he said.
In negotiations
Crosby said he's in negotiations with the same company to finance an induction concert for the 2004 hall inductees that could be held in the spring and would be accompanied by a television show. That deal also includes distribution of music products from that concert.
He and Amrhein made their comments about hall activities Thursday after businessman James E. Winner Jr. publicly called for Tony Butala, a founder of the hall and chairman of its two-man board of directors, to step aside and let someone else try to run the facility.
Winner and Butala were partners in the project, which opened in December 1997.
It was Butala's concept and music industry contacts that got it started, and Winner put up $2 million to develop the project. Winner said he also put up $25,000 a month until November 2001 to keep the hall open.
He backed away from the project at that point, leaving it to Butala to continue.
Winner still owns the buildings that the hall occupies, but he has no role other than as landlord, Amrhein said.
Winner claims the hall "is at a virtual standstill and creating no value to the community today."
He suggested it's time for someone else to try to make the hall a success as part of a downtown revitalization effort.
Butala has flatly rejected the suggestion.
Also in the works
In addition to the distribution agreements, the hall is working on creating a national tour of inducted artists as well as a syndicated satellite radio show to support that tour, Crosby said.
Further, the hall is awaiting word from the state of Pennsylvania on a grant of "a couple million dollars," Crosby said. That money would fund basic hall operations and provide funding for concerts and other activities for several years, he said.
Music industry interest is "very high," Amrhein said, noting the hall is getting calls from venues around the country asking for concerts by inducted groups.
Amrhein said it's no secret the hall has experienced difficult financial issues since it was formed, but those matters are being addressed.
Issues raised in Winner's letters made public this week refer to conditions as they were two or more years ago. Winner has no idea what's happening in the hall today, Amrhein said.
Crosby said the hall's $200,000 debt is no more than the hall faced when Winner left the project and Butala took over at the end of 2001.
Amrhein questioned the purpose of making Winner's issues with the hall public. Two letters Winner released on the subject were addressed to Butala, but they were sent first to a radio station, Amrhein said, noting that neither Butala nor the hall ever received the second letter.