 Lakefront Park
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Tourism,
Recreation (Click any image for a larger view.)
"Lying, as it does, off the great routes, the village of Cooperstown is less known than it deserves to be. Few persons visit it, without acknowledging the beauties of its natural scenery, and the general neatness and decency of the place itself. ... Everything shows a direction towards ... an improving civilization." James Fenimore Cooper (1837) Life in Cooperstown has indeed unfolded according to Cooper's vision. The Village of Cooperstown, with its rich array of museums and other diverse attractions, is the jewel of Otsego County and of the Central Leatherstocking Country region of upstate New York. Dubbed 'the village of museums', Cooperstown boasts three nationally/internationally recognized museums. The National Baseball Hall of Fame, known everywhere for our 'national pastime'; The Farmers' Museum, one of the country's oldest outdoor living history museums showcasing rural life in 1845 in its lively Village of Historic trade and craft shops; and Fenimore House Museum, home to one of the country's premier folk art collections, and now the American Indian Wing with a dazzling collection and galleries "any museum in the world would envy." (The New York Times) The museums attract visitors year round for special events such as Candlelight Evening in December and Sleigh Rally in February. In addition, Glimmerglass Opera, a world class company, attracts 32,000 patrons each season to its beautiful Alice Busch Opera Theater on Otsego Lake. Opera lovers dine in our restaurants and sleep in our hotels and comfortable B&Bs. They shop in the many unique clothing and gift emporiums that line our Shopping District streets. Visitors and residents are also drawn to our flne arts galleries, including the juried National Art Association Show sponsored by the Cooperstown Art Association. The Smithy-Pioneer Gallery, the Cooperstown Brush and Palette Club, and Cooper Country Crafts offer changing shows that highlight local artists, many of them nationally recognized. The architecture of Hyde Hall, a neo-classic English 19th century manor under restoration just north of Cooperstown, attracts visitors both to observe the restoration in progress and to attend special events held at the Hall. Several village parks border Lake Otsego in and around the village and offer picnicking and swimming. Glimmerglass State Park is located nine miles north of the village, where visitors camp, picnic and swim in the summer and cross-country ski, ice skate and "tube" during the winter months. There are scenic wetlands along the lake shores that are open to the public at Goodyear Sanctuary. Agri-tourism adds another dimension to Otsego's tourism offerings. Many working farms offer comfortable bed-and-breakfast accommodations. The weekly Farmers' Market brings farmers to Main Street every Saturday from June to October. Pleasant Valley Bison Ranch, the Fly Creek Cider Mill, and Lollypop Farm, a are some of the interesting names of businesses that link Otsego's largest industries, tourism, agriculture and health care. The Otesaga Hotel's deep verandas overlook the shores of Lake Otsego. Located right in the village, the grand resort hotel is an attraction in itself. Small, privately-operated motels, quaint bed and breakfasts and inns make up the bulk of the village's accommodations and are an integral part of the picture-perfect charm of the Village. Two golf courses, the championship 18-hole Leatherstocking Golf Course and the 9-hole Otsego Golf Club, one of the oldest in the U.S., are located along the shores of Lake Otsego. The Oneonta Tigers play minor league baseball from mid-June to Labor Day 30 minutes from Cooperstown. There are several batting cages and miniature golf courses in and around the Village. Traffic is mitigated by the Trolley System featuring four old-fashioned trolleys that carry visitors to Main Street and the museums from convenient parking lots located on the outskirts of town. They are a tourist attraction in their own right and have been widely embraced as the best way to travel around Cooperstown. A myriad of annual events enriches the tourism venue, including an annual canoe regatta, inductions of soccer and baseball Hall of Famers, baseball games at Doubleday Field, craft shows, harvest festivals, and car shows. There is no parallel to the Christmas atmosphere in Cooperstown. The combined decorating efforts of The Clark Foundation, The Scriven Foundation, Lake and Valley Garden Club and individual businesses and homeowners create a magical scene for shoppers and sightseers. Special activities are planned throughout the Holiday Season including visits with Santa in his Victorian cottage located on Main Street. Both private and public sector investment in the tourism industry of Otsego County demonstrate confidence in the future of the industry here. The National Soccer Hall of Fame in Oneonta recently received a $4.5 million challenge grant from New York State to complete Wright National Soccer Campus, a facility that attracts thousands of visitors each summer for weekend tournaments and that will be the permanent location of the soccer museum. The newly constructed Cooperstown Dreams Park, a complex of baseball playing fields and accommodations, attracted 600 young baseball enthusiasts and their families each summer week last year. Plans are already under way to expand the complex and add weeks to the season. According to the New York State Department of Economic Development, one in ten residents of Otsego County is directly employed in tourism-related businesses with an annual payroll of $28.8 million (1996). In 1996 taxable hotel sales were $15.5 million and, restaurant sales were $33.2 million. Combined, these two categories generated $1.4 million in county sales tax. Since 1990 the Bed Tax has generated $1.4 million in revenues to offset the cost of tourism promotion. |
