SHARON Vocal Group Hall seeks state funds for projects

The grants would help fund this year's induction ceremony.
SHARON, Pa. (AP) -- The cash-strapped Vocal Group Hall of Fame will seek $5 million in state money over the next three years to help fund a new museum, restaurant and piano bar, among other projects.
Bob Crosby, the hall's president, said the hall has a plan to make the business self-sustaining, and that the state money is a "one-time cash injection" needed to set the plan in motion.
Hall representatives discussed the proposal at a meeting Thursday with Mayor Bob Lucas, Pa. state Rep. Michael C. Gruitza, D-Mercer, Pa. state Sen. Robert D. Robbins, R-Mercer, and other officials.
The hall was started by Tony Butala, a founding member of the vocal group The Lettermen, with help from James E. Winner Jr., owner of a hotel and the company that makes The Club vehicle anti-theft device.
But few people were willing to pay to tour the Sharon museum. Then Winner pulled out in 2001, financial wrangling over the hall ended in lawsuits, and the hall eventually closed.
A spokesman for Gov. Ed Rendell said there had been no direct requests for money from the governor's budget, and that the governor would not get involved unless such requests were made.
What would be covered
The funding would cover this year's induction ceremony -- a $250,000 expense -- as well as costs linked to the hall's new venue, a restaurant and piano bar in downtown Sharon.
Last month, the hall's foundation announced it bought the restaurant and planned to convert it into the new Vocal Group Hall of Fame.
The remodeled building is expected open this fall and display memorabilia from the more than 90 groups inducted into the hall, a list that includes the Andrew Sisters, the Four Tops and the Beach Boys.
Inductees are chosen from groups having a minimum of three-part harmony, 20 years in the music business and a hit song.
Butala, who had moved away from the area, plans to move back to Sharon to oversee development of the new site.
Other expenses covered by the proposed state funding include repairs to a theater owned by the hall, CD and DVD production costs, museum display cases and employee salaries.