We Need a Museum to Celebrate the Borsht Belt

by: Bill Liblick

How about a museum honoring the Catskill Mountains and the Borsht Belt Era? It all happened in the Catskills, so why not commemorate our magnificent nostalgia instead of letting it completely vanish? Maybe it could be the catalyst we so desperately need to invite people back to our region.

When we speak of the Catskill Mountains everyone has a story to tell. Unfortunately, there is no place to reminisce that special time in history. Every major entertainer launched his or her career here. They all got started at a borscht belt resort, from Jerry Lewis, to Jack Benny to Milton Berle to George Burns. Eddie Fisher even married Debbie Reynolds here. The Catskill Mountains was a place you could take your family to for an all-inclusive great vacation.

Gone are the hundreds of hotels that made us famous, with their great meals, activities, and entertainment. Gone too are the thousands of bungalow colonies so many called home each and every summer. It was a time when our economy was stimulated, and people talk about good and fun times. There are endless stories to tell. It is part of our history which must be preserved.  

Sadly, Sullivan County once the “Resort Capital” of United States, is now left with only two hotels, Kutsher’s and Villa Roma.

Governmental officials along with development corporations are busy securing grants for businesses assisting them with an array of financial relief to keep them afloat, expand, or stay open.

We see it happening all over Sullivan County. There are state, federal and even private grants for replacing facades, hiring employees, and even assisting in running businesses.

The Sullivan County Partnership and IDA are supposedly busy finding new industries to bring for our county. We hear about tax abatements, no interest loans, and all forms of planning and financial assistance.

But, when it comes to helping Sullivan County’s resort hotels like Kutsher’s County Club or Villa Roma, everyone is silent.

Resorts like Kutsher’s and Villa Roma employ so many people. These hotels are on our tax rolls, while contributing so much to our economy. We need to do more and think of ideas on how we can assist them, not just raise their hotel occupancy tax. In fact, it was recently discovered that the entire vacation package for guests staying at these hotels were being taxed and not just the cost of the room. Now a new mechanism has to be worked out.

Rumors circulate on a daily basis if Kutsher’s the last of our true Borsht Belt Resorts, will be sold, remain open for business, or close all together. Instead of hearsay, our economic development community should be doing everything they can to help keep the famed hotel open. Perhaps locating a Borsht Belt Era Museum at Kutsher’s will preserve the hotel, and turn the struggling resort around.

All the talk lately surrounds Bethel Woods, and I have nothing but high praise for what has been done there, I want to make that very clear. The simple fact still remains, much of it is off the tax rolls, no monies go directly to the county, and the project has received a great deal of governmental grants. Nothing is wrong with all that, but we should also work to help keep Kutsher’s alive.

Bethel Woods has received several million dollars in state and federal grants to construct a museum on their site. Why can’t our political leaders work with Kutsher’s in building a museum filled with Sullivan County nostalgia paying tribute to and rejoicing our past? I bet it is something the Kutsher family would welcome. If only those in power would think out of the box and come up with some new innovative ideas.

A museum at Kutsher’s County Club to celebrate the Borsch Belt Era, what do you think?

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