College Football Hall of Fame coming to Atlanta
Updated at 10:40 a.m. Wednesday:
More confirmation that the College Football Hall of Fame is headed to Atlanta comes from the South Bend, Ind., Tribune this morning.
Reports the newspaper:
Mark Dobson, president and chief executive of the Chamber of Commerce of St. Joseph County, citing an unnamed source, confirmed late Tuesday that the National Football Foundation plans to move the Hall to downtown Atlanta. A news conference is reportedly scheduled for Thursday in the Southern capital.
“I’m only able to (confirm) it through a secondhand source,” Dobson said, “… but it does appear to be solid information.”
Dobson said he has not yet spoken to South Bend Mayor Stephen Luecke, but that officials with the National Football Foundation were in town Tuesday, presumably to break the news to local officials.
Original post:
My AJC colleague James Salzer just got a tip that officials with the College Football Hall of Fame will announce Thursday that the hall is moving from South Bend, Ind., home of the University of Notre Dame, to Atlanta.
The tip must be judged as fairly solid: It came from a state official invited to the press conference.
Prior to its residence in South Bend, the hall of fame was located in Cincinnati. But apparently, foot traffic was lacking in Indiana.
Real estate hawk Tony Wilbert says the Cathy family is expected to donate the land for the site — which makes sense, given the rising stature of the Chick-fil-a Bowl. Wilbert also reminds us of this background piece he recently wrote:
Business executives and local officials are believed to be working to secure the InterPark lot at Centennial Olympic Park Drive and Harris Street as a potential site should College Football Hall of Fame executives decide to move it to Atlanta.
InterPark, a subsidiary of GE Capital Real Estate, owns the lot next to the American Cancer Society Center. The lot stretches from Centennial Olympic Park Drive to Williams Street. It is directly across the street from the park.
If the college hall relocates to the site, it would fortify the Centennial Olympic Park area as a center of tourist attractions. The InterPark lot is proximate to the Children’s Museum, World of Coca-Cola and Georgia Aquarium. The National Health Museum also has said it would consider sites adjacent to the Olympic Park.
Dallas was apparently among the competitors. This from the Dallas Morning News in April:
A group of area political and civic leaders, as well as football legends such as Roger Staubach and Deion Sanders, are pursuing relocating the College Football Hall of Fame from South Bend, Ind., to downtown Dallas, they announced today.
The group, which includes Mayor Tom Leppert and billionaire oilman T. Boone Pickens, says it’s willing to pay for the entire cost of relocating, building and launching the facility, which would be slated for construction next to a planned Dallas Convention Center hotel at Young, Market and Lamar streets.
For instant updates, follow me on Twitter.
Tell us what you think about the site
Customer Care »
Vacation stops, manage subscriptions and more
AJC Services
Sections
Other Editions
Visitor Agreement | Privacy Statement
© 2013 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
98 comments Add your comment
CJJScout
September 22nd, 2009
4:02 pm
That is awesome. Put it in a place where folks might actually want to travel and have the accessibility to do so.
jamesr1991
September 22nd, 2009
4:06 pm
Great news for all college football fans.
Will Jones - Atlanta Jeffersonian Exegesis
September 22nd, 2009
4:08 pm
Atlanta’s the Center of the Universe so it makes sense.
DML
September 22nd, 2009
4:09 pm
I am “certain” that the folks in South Bend will have very little to say about this.
RealDawg
September 22nd, 2009
4:09 pm
Finally a win after losing NASCAR. Atlanta actually makes sense. It should be here or Dallas. No where else. Halls of Fame should be in locations that people actually go.
Dawg stuck in Bham
September 22nd, 2009
4:09 pm
From one town with an overrated football team to another town with an overrated football team…
joe joe
September 22nd, 2009
4:10 pm
Great news for Atlanta!!
Now if they can just move the SEC offices here to Atlanta.
Flash
September 22nd, 2009
4:10 pm
Wow, that’s huge. Way to go whoever got that done.
Ryan
September 22nd, 2009
4:10 pm
I guess South Bend wasn’t big enough to host the soon-to-be-built Tebow wing of the building.
Lee
September 22nd, 2009
4:11 pm
Awesome ! I assume that the hall would do much better business here in the Metro area.
Base
September 22nd, 2009
4:14 pm
Great all we need is another museum to drain our tax resources. Is this going to called the Sonny Hall Of fame.
Omar
September 22nd, 2009
4:15 pm
That’s great news for the SEC
jellyton D
September 22nd, 2009
4:16 pm
i’ll be they will put it next to the Aquarium, to increase the muggification and car-jackification potential of the area. Plus, you know, most of the visitors will end up being white folks, who can be picked off pretty easy, satisfying the basic tenets of the Black Agenda. They are fools.
Good news but...
September 22nd, 2009
4:16 pm
Where would they put it….next to the Dome? As long as it’s no longer in Notre Dame country, I’m happy.
Madmatt
September 22nd, 2009
4:16 pm
Another great win for Atlanta! Atlanta is the center of the college football universe!
Wilbert News Strategies
September 22nd, 2009
4:17 pm
Yes, and here’s the site:
http://archive.constantcontact.com/fs060/1102490534480/archive/1102695604971.html
JMc12203
September 22nd, 2009
4:19 pm
Maybe we need to wait for an official announcemant before we get too excited, considering the reliability of recent AJC breaking news updates.
Chris
September 22nd, 2009
4:19 pm
The College Football HOF belongs in the South. No one loves their college football more. Let’s just not turn this into buttsmear II.
GT Brill
September 22nd, 2009
4:21 pm
I hope it’s true, that would be great news.
DawgFan34
September 22nd, 2009
4:22 pm
Great news for Atlanta! This is MUCH better than the Trashcar HOF. I’m glad Atlanta lost out on that waste of building materials! Ukulele Hall of Fame > Trashcar Hall of Fame- what a joke!!!
Anson Roberts
September 22nd, 2009
4:22 pm
Two thoughts:
1. “Oh, goody! Another tourist venue for the hookers, drug dealers and muggers to ply their trade!”
2, “Another large piece of commercial property taken off the tax rolls.”
JMc12203
September 22nd, 2009
4:22 pm
Considering the AJC has cut their coverage to 5 pages on Sunday, I wonder why it is coming to Atlanta. It is apparent by the lack of coverage that Atlantans could care less about college football. (LOL)
EMMA
September 22nd, 2009
4:24 pm
Way to go!!!!! I love this city (sometimes) LOLOLOL Just about everything is here. To jellyton: I’m black and I love college sports and so do my collegues and in Atlanta, I doubt if most of the visitors will be white
Iceman
September 22nd, 2009
4:26 pm
The south is the king of college football. Atlanta is the capital city of the south.
Makes sense to me.
esa
September 22nd, 2009
4:27 pm
There’s a college football hall of fame? Who knew?
Sara
September 22nd, 2009
4:27 pm
Now if only we can get the Studebaker museum…
NecUga
September 22nd, 2009
4:28 pm
jellyton D, please stay outside the perimeter and spend your time in traffic, going to ugly strip malls and playing tennis in your bland, homogeneous subdivisions and complaining. Those of us who want to move forward will do so without you.
Wreck
September 22nd, 2009
4:32 pm
Ha. From the center of the Big 10 universe to the epicenter of ACC and SEC SOUTHERN football. Take that Yankees!
DunwoodyHeel
September 22nd, 2009
4:32 pm
Jellyton, you personify class and dignity. And speaking for Dunwoody, we don’t want his type around our area. He can go back to Carrollton or wherever.
Bama fan in Tn
September 22nd, 2009
4:35 pm
Bring It to Nashville at least it wont get flooded out..
College Football Hall of Fame moving to Atlanta - Georgia (GA) - City-Data Forum
September 22nd, 2009
4:35 pm
[...] Football Hall of Fame moving to Atlanta College Football Hall of Fame coming to Atlanta | Political Insider Great decision– Atlanta has to be the #1 college football city in the [...]
Irishman
September 22nd, 2009
4:41 pm
You can have it. It was the most out-dated and boring football-related venue I have ever visited. The only thing worth the admission price was seeing the vintage uniforms. It’s just not worth visiting.
jim
September 22nd, 2009
4:43 pm
Let’s just wait and see what happens. This has been rumored before from Texas as well as other spots. South Bend has put alot into it and will probably put up a fight, but they have a lease for the present location until 2012 or 2013, at least. Also, the only thing that happens at the hall of fame location is the induction, with everything else involved taking placde in New York City, which deflates the real impact of the hall in the first place.
Tony Flack
September 22nd, 2009
4:47 pm
This is a great win for the city of Atlanta and the state in general. Nobody knows and will actually support college football like the south. And just to give it a little local “flavor” why don’t we paint it Red and Black in honor of the real D-I football team here in GA.
The Ghost Of John Q. Public
September 22nd, 2009
4:48 pm
YIPEEE! More traffic jams, more panhandlers, more hookers, more ‘playas’, more thugs, more parking headaches, and yet one more mass of humanity that will attempt to use the poorly designed Williams St. exit off of the downtown dis-connector.
You gotta hand it to Atlanta, no planning, more traffic, more crime.
Our Capital City at its best.
Tony Flack
September 22nd, 2009
4:49 pm
I didn’t know hookers liked football! And you say it like its a bad thing…
AJCannon
September 22nd, 2009
4:52 pm
This is fantastical news! It’ll be in easy walking distance when I get kicked out of the aquarium for handing out tartar sauce packets!
get the picture
September 22nd, 2009
4:59 pm
Let’s just hope they improve the product. The HOF in South Bend is AWFUL and does nothing to promote or honor the history of a great sport with great history. If you’ve never been to the HOF in South Bend, you didn’t miss anything. I’m hoping Atlanta, in conjunction with Chick-fil-A, the NCAA, and all the conferences can fund this facility and make it a showcase to college football!!
Tim Thomas
September 22nd, 2009
4:59 pm
Great! With the crime rate and the lack of police officers in Atlanta, it will be like shooting fish in a bucket. Atlanta should focus on locking up these killers first before inviting more victims for the criminals to prey on.
Braves #17 fan
September 22nd, 2009
5:03 pm
Maybe it was attitudes similar to Irishman’s that forced the move out of South Bend.
College Football HOF Moving - Irish Envy | Notre Dame Football Discussion
September 22nd, 2009
5:04 pm
[...] College Football HOF Moving College Football Hall of Fame coming to Atlanta | Political Insider [...]
GA Tech Insider
September 22nd, 2009
5:09 pm
With John Heisman coaching here in our fair city, and having his name associated with the Trophy which is awarded to the National Collegiate Player of the Year (you all know what I mean), and Bobby Dodd also coaching here in our fair city, and having his name associated with the Trophy which is awarded to the National Collegiate Coach of the Year, it seems fitting that the College Football Hall of Fame would be coming to Atlanta.
Braves #17 fan
September 22nd, 2009
5:18 pm
Tim Thomas – You don’t make sense. Is “Atlanta” just one person or a single small group of people?
jellyton D – You really sound like a lonely fool who has a comfort zone smaller than a toilet.
Andrew
September 22nd, 2009
5:20 pm
NO!!! That’s my go-to cheap parking lot!
ATL Scouser
September 22nd, 2009
5:23 pm
This is absolutely fantastic and will be great for Atlanta! It also makes logical sense given that Atlanta sits at the crossroads of the SEC and ACC, hosts an array of college athletic tournaments including the Final Four, and serves as the hub of the South–where college football is a religion.
On a side note, I find it amazing that some folks on here are b*tching and complaining. It must suck being miserable all of the time.
DJSergio
September 22nd, 2009
5:27 pm
I grew up in South Bend and live in Atl now. I distinctly remember when the Hall of Fame came to rest there. It was heavily debated because a large faction of the people there believed it was a money pit that had a history of being poorly operated. It sounds nice on paper to have the Hall of Fame near a college football icon like Notre Dame, but I assure you, the people of South Bend won’t shed many tears if it leaves. I expect it will do better in Atlanta because of the heavy tourist traffic, but most people would say, ‘good riddance’. I’ve been there too and it is frankly pretty lame. But, good luck.
maximus
September 22nd, 2009
5:33 pm
WHY ?
who the hell wants to go all the way to Atlanta to see it?
why not somewhere like Indianapolis? a NICE city.
UGASlobberknocker
September 22nd, 2009
6:14 pm
Hey NecUGA..Just because Jellyton D is a racist babbling idiot is no reason to throw us suburbanites under the bus..I go downtown all the time, feel perfectly safe; but would rather live in Roswell. It’s cheaper than most of the nicer areas of Atlanta, and i work in Roswell. Does that make me bland ? My neighborhood is not bland at all, but very nice. The tennis court in the neighborhood is empty most of the time. I have neighbors who are black, Indian, hispanic, and oh, white. Some are bland and boring, but most are pretty darn interesting.
So, necuga, you beat up on jellyton when you are doing the same exact thing he is, Unfairly criticizing that of which you know nothing.
I just wish this blog had ” intelligence check” to go with spell check…maybe some of these idiotic assinine comments would be filtered out.
UGASlobberknocker
September 22nd, 2009
6:22 pm
Indianapolis????I have been to Indianapolis. It is a nice little city, but one that no one really has the need to go to except maybe for the Indy 500. I believe the aim of the HOF is to put the facility in a city that actually has more than just locals or the occasional lost traveler dropping in.
blazerdawg
September 22nd, 2009
6:27 pm
Awesome! Now if we can just get the Peach/Chick-fil-a Bowl into the National Championship (sic) rotation.
collegeballfan
September 22nd, 2009
6:32 pm
If correct – wonderful!
PSSonem
September 22nd, 2009
6:32 pm
To: Dawg stuck in Bham and Tony Flack:
To Hell with Georgia! Georgia Tech owns Atlanta and soon will own the rest of the state and the HOF.
Tim Thomas
September 22nd, 2009
6:37 pm
Braves #17 fan – Are you living in a box! You need to take your family downtown and walk hand-in-hand through the wonderful crime ridden streets and see if you live to tell about it. Why would someone take even the smallest chance of losing a loved one or even yourself when you don’t need to! Even if you are not a victim of crime on any given trip, it’s a matter of numbers. The latest statistics say that you have 1 in 18 chance of being a victim of crime in the city limits after 8pm. Who in their right mind would want to chance that? We just went to the Christmas tree lighting last year and our car was broken in to. I suggest you watch the news on a daily basis and see all the killings or go back to your box.
Saul
September 22nd, 2009
7:02 pm
Enter your comments hereThis has been a drain on the taxpapers of South Bend, IN since day 1. We were promised by the mayor at the time that NO city tax funds would be used for this white elephant. Good luck Atlanta. The owner of the Football Hall of Fame has tooooo much money and will not place any of their money into the facility–just keep on making the money for their own benefits. The city of South Bend has been dropping money into this since day 1. We will be happy to see it leave come the moving date in 2010 which is the end of the city’s current contract!
CFB Fan
September 22nd, 2009
7:15 pm
Get the Chick-Fil-A Bowl into the BCS championship game rotation!!?? Are you kidding? The Chick-Fil-A Bolw is a nice “secondary” bowl, but it does not have the prestige or history of the 4 sites that host it currently. A) The NCAA wants a 4 stadium rotation, which of the current sites should lose the game? B) The CFA Bowl would be second in line behind the Cotton Bowl in Texas (especially if they start playing the game in Jerry Jones new Taj Mahal). The Georgia Dome is not visually as pleasing or updated as any of the current venues that host the game (except for the Rose Bowl and believe me, the NCAA will never give up that site in the rotation). SEC fans go crazy over the Georgia Dome, but Network big wigs don’t care for it. Wonder why the Super Bowl has never been back here?
Speed
September 22nd, 2009
7:17 pm
Welp, I hope you all enjoy it ! South Bend here. I, personally, am heartbroken ! This was one of the biggest coups ever pulled off by the City of South Bend and now, apparently, all is lost. BUT YOU AIN’T GETTING OUR STUDEBAKER MUSEUM ! No way, no how !
blazerdawg
September 22nd, 2009
7:19 pm
TT- kind of sounds like you are living in a box. I go downtown all the time, walk long streches, and never have a problem.
Downtown certainly is not up to its potential, and why the city leadership lets the panhadlers scare off the tourists I have no idea, but the Cent Park Area is a great location for the CF HOF. I have been to the facility in South Bend and it is a joke – the GA Sports & Music HOFs in Macon are much larger, more interesting and nicer. This is going to be a great attraction, and much better than the NASCAR project.
blazerdawg
September 22nd, 2009
7:24 pm
CFB – the reference to the Peach being in the rotation was more tounge-in-cheek, but I do not believe that the GA Dome is inferior to the Orange Bowl (Landshark) facility, or even the Sugar Bowl (Superdome) facility.
The Super Bowl was here twice, and has not returned because of the Ice Storm the last time. I believe most folks would agree that the building shows well on TV, but I do not think that is even a consideration.
If A. Blank builds his dream stadium on the GM plant site, the Peach may well be added to the rotation, and the Super Bowl will probably be back.
See you at the Final Four in 2013, in GEORGIA DOME!
Braves #17 Fan
September 22nd, 2009
7:30 pm
Tim – If I live in a box, it’s a big one that stretches from Cobb County to Turner Field. We have season tickets for the Braves and go downtown all the time. I guess I’m just accustomed to it and might not live to tell you “told you so”, but we’re living it up and honestly have no fear.
scottbravesfan
September 22nd, 2009
7:50 pm
You people on here are nuts. Crime and panhandlers at the park? Please I go to the Olympic Park area all the time have taken my wife, my three year old daughter, and my mother there to the Aquarium, World of Coke, Philips, and CNN center and have never had a problem. It’s a beautiful place to go and I have always seen police presence there. As for the crime Atlanta is a huge city with an incompetent mayor who does not get a long with the police so of course you are going to have crime. NYC used to have crime all the time until they got someone in office to put a stop to it.
Falcon Josh
September 22nd, 2009
7:50 pm
All I want is a new stadium for the Falcons! Thank you for your time.
CFB Fan
September 22nd, 2009
7:57 pm
Blazerdawg- I respect your opinion, and can see with your thoughts about the Superdome, but I have been to the Georgia Dome countless times (Falcons season ticket holder) and have been to Joe Robbie/Pro Player/Land Shark Stadium at least 10 times. Land Shark stadium is a much better facility than the Georgia Dome. It is an open air facility, has great amenities, great skyboxes, 2 huge big screens (2nd in size only to the new Texas stadiums) and has great site lines. There is a reason why the NFL has played 4 and will will be 5 Super Bowls there and it is currently in the BCS championship game rotation. Ask any Gator fan who went there for last years BCS championship game and has been to the Georgia Dome for an SEC championship game to compare the facilities. I hope the A. Blank does go ahead and builds a new stadium to get us back in the rotation. It would be great for our city. BTW, you can’t compare the Final Four to the week long pagentry of having a Super Bowl hosted in your city/stadium.
blazerdawg
September 22nd, 2009
8:04 pm
CFB – Agree with the open air aspect of Landshark. Sightlines are probably better in GA Dome (seats are at least 30/40 feet closer all the way around-and the shape is not a straight rectangle). Was just at both Landshark and GA Dome w/in the past month and the video screens are about the same. Other amenities are probably a bit better at Landshark, but access to hotels/MARTA is better at GA Dome.
If the Final Four is not comparable, how about the Olympics? Just sayin that the building can (and has) hosted major events well, and could host a CFB Nat Champ (sic) game if another bowl or two were added. Would not want to take away from the Sugar, Rose, Orange, or even Cotton. (you can have the Fiesta)
Falcon Josh
September 22nd, 2009
8:04 pm
I love the idea of a new open air stadium! I want it to be so. The problem is the the NFL will not give us the Super Bowl for a open air stadium. The weather is not good enough that time of year. We will get the open air stadium and keep the Dome for the other big events. Just get the Falcons out of the Dome!!!
CFB Fan
September 22nd, 2009
8:18 pm
The Falcons need a retractable roof stadium, ala: Houston, Dallas, Arizona Cardinals (and Diamond Backs for that matter). It would be great to have the Falcons back on real grass. It would be the best of both worlds, open air for the regular season and playoffs and it could be closed for the Super Bowl due to the weather. When Dallas gets the Super Bowl in a couple of years, beleive me the hole in the roof will be closed.
Michael
September 22nd, 2009
8:22 pm
Sounds like more good news to Bobby Dodd, John Heisman, and consequently, GT fans alike.
More money for our city too, pending the budget remains in the black. We’ll take $EC money any day. Thanks Chick-Fil-a!
GatorBait
September 22nd, 2009
8:33 pm
I’m shocked. Dallas should have won. Bigger city with more football legacy than Atlanta.
Matt
September 22nd, 2009
8:48 pm
Tim Thomas: I walk through the streets of Downtown and Midtown EVERYDAY and yet I have only once run into trouble. That was my own fault because I was walking down sketchy streets past midnight. I’m pretty sure the CFBHOF is not going to be open that late. We all know you are racist so just stay out of Atlanta. We are better off without you. Every city has it’s problems. Urban areas in general are hot spots for crime. Unfortunately, this seems to be a hot spot for ignorance as well. Shame. Your probably also one of the ones who was for carrying guns on MARTA.
Will Jones - Bananasville
September 22nd, 2009
9:09 pm
Cheney, Bush, The Pope and Clinton’s Rockefeller-nose used the same weather machine that made Hurricane Katrina flood all the African Americans of New Orleans, to flood Atlanta. The Catholic G-D of the treasonous traitors that commited 9/11 are targeting me because I know they did 9/11. Those neocons are not above using the power of weather to silence their foes that misuse Latin tense and expose their treachery. Death for Treason.
MariettaLegend
September 22nd, 2009
9:18 pm
I am from Marietta,GA but am living in South Bend. No one goes to the Hall up here. The only ones that go are the visiting teams that play ND.
Illini1
September 22nd, 2009
9:24 pm
It all makes so much sense…bring a sports-related attraction to a city that is consistently rated one of the worst sports cities..heck..your arenas and stadiums don’t get filled for live events so I highly doubt you’ll get more than a couple of hundred people to come and relive past memories…this city doesn’t deserve all the sports teams it has thanks to a lackluster and apathetic fan base!
Justice Pro
September 22nd, 2009
9:43 pm
This place was a great place to visit, in fact we went to a wedding reception their, I am in FL and I know we will visit again. What a score for GA.
james wilson
September 22nd, 2009
10:59 pm
Enter your comments here PLEASE DON’T PUT IT DOWNTOWN ATLANTA. THERE IS TO MUCH THERE ALREADY
South Bender
September 22nd, 2009
11:33 pm
Congrats to all of you in Atlanta for receiving this venue! My hope is that the HOF will receive the adequate support and resources it needs to thrive in your City. In South Bend, it has drained us (the taxpayers), as it was never a moneymaker here. I believe this town is simply too small to drive the traffic for it to succeed the way it can in a much larger city such as yours. It is doubtful that the citizens of my fair town will fight to keep it here.
aztec
September 22nd, 2009
11:54 pm
chris i have some bad news for you. everyone in every part of this country loves their college football not just the south, you need to do some traveling around the country
Jason
September 23rd, 2009
1:00 am
Illini1, you obviously don’t know there is a difference between college sports and pro sports. If this was the Pro Football Hall of Fame, you might have a point, but it is the College Football Hall of Fame and in the South, that means something.
George O'Leary
September 23rd, 2009
6:03 am
I will drink to that!
kevin
September 23rd, 2009
6:40 am
Why is there no mention of this on the ajc home page?
Barky Obummer
September 23rd, 2009
7:20 am
Wait a minute, hold ohn…I might want this in the District of Criminals for OUR neighborhood. Let’s see now, which CZAR can I turn to on this? I will make this decision by noon today and Gibbsey will let you know the results, because what I say, GOES!
clyde
September 23rd, 2009
7:47 am
A hall of fame for thugs in training.Plaxo Buress can visit there in 20 months if he’s on his best behavior.
Will Jones - Atlanta Jeffersonian Exegesis
September 23rd, 2009
8:27 am
Shoulda been Dallas?
Nobody and nothing should ever go to Dallas or Texas until the people there work overtime to bring to justice the CIA faction, led by George H.W. Bush and Richard Nixon, that-Bush’s Hitler-financing father’s protégé, which assassinated our Commander-in-Chief to restore the unconstitutional Federal Reserve Bank to its illegal control of our money six weeks after President John F. Kennedy ordered our military’s withdrawal from the papal estate of Vietnam.
Other than going to Dealey Plaza to witness the scene of the Roman Anti-Christ’s “Fifth Column’s” treason to send 58,000 of us to die for the pope in Indochina and to honor our martyred president, yet “laying unburied in the street,” there is no good reason to go to, or stay in, Texas, for any true American.
The curse causeless shall not come.
Death for Treason
Annuit Coeptis
dgroy
September 23rd, 2009
9:02 am
Please put someone in charge of it that is not of the same “Ilk” as the current leaders of the City of Atlanta. If you don’t, this will only insure that the facility , after a couple of years, will be like MARTA Stations……trashy and unsafe.
Hall of Fame southbound! « Joe Auburn, walkabout
September 23rd, 2009
10:45 am
[...] College Football Hall of Fame coming to Atlanta [...]
downtown is alright, children
September 23rd, 2009
11:15 am
I’m always amazed at all the paranoid, racist yokels who have these fearful views of downtown ATL, e.g., the pervasive hookers there–as noted above by a couple of folks. Huh? This middle-aged white guy worked downtown for 14 of the last 16 years, goes to almost all Hawks games, regularly visits a good pub there to watch football games, etc. and has never been approached by (or frankly seen) a hooker in downtown ATL (although in my world travels, I have been so approached, e.g., in 4 star hotel bars in NYC, St. Petersburg (Russia), Hong Kong, Las Vegas, etc., etc.). I’ve also never been a victim of a crime in downtown ATL. Let’s get real, scaredy cat goobs.
Jerry Douglas
September 23rd, 2009
11:15 am
Ho hum. The only thing more boring than watching football is watching golf. And the only thing more low brow is NASCAR racing.
Son of South Bend
September 23rd, 2009
12:11 pm
Good luck to the city of Atlanta. With your larger population base, corporate headquarters and football fan base (both college and pro), you might make a go of it. The thing to remember is that it, the CFHOF, has absolutely no legitimate contract or ties to the NCAA or any of the other associations that represent the smaller colleges that play football. The College Football Hall of Fame, (CFHOF) cannot put a 50 cent surcharge on every college football ticket sold to support it. In fact, the NCAA has it’s own Hall of Fame for all college sports in Indianapolis. The National Football Foundation (NFF), headquartered in New York, is the parent organization for the CFHOF. It’s finances were questioned in the ’90’s when this not-for-profit was revealed for spending very little of it’s millions of dollars for CFHOF operations. Investigative journalists found that college scholarship money and salaries were going to family of board members. The NFF locked the city of South Bend and it’s then mayor Joe Kernan into a contract that had the city of South Bend building a $17 million building, and funding any shortcomings in CFHOF operations. But don’t worry, it was promised, corporate donations would be coming and the hundreds of thousands that would flock to this museum would cover all costs. Unfortunately, none of this happened. The city of South Bend used a lot of tax money, from different creative ways (sports development, general fund, lottery fund) to keep it afloat, with little support from the NFF. Think of this operation as a several wealthy Georgia businessmen getting together and putting several million dollars in the pot, create a 501C not for profit, and call it the Georgia Grade School Football Hall of Fame (GGSFHF). Buy a few old relics, like Darius Walkers old cleats or other home grown stars picture or equipment. Approach a city within the state of Georgia and get them to agree to build a top notch building and fund any shortcomings in revenue, and the GGSFHF will bring these incredible artifacts. Experts, think economic professors that don’t know the difference between a baseball or football, will provide studies that will show the wonderful economic impact this partnership will have on the city that has this wonderful museum. But remember that this organization will have no legitimate connection to the State of Georgia or the public Department of Education that oversees or regulates grade school athletics. And don’t get upset when the induction ceremony isn’t held in the city that has the GGFHF (Ex: Athens), but is held in Atlanta, because that’s were the money is banked and the owners…oops my bad…principles live.
The bottom line is that I’m sad to see it go. But the city of South Bend did more than carry it’s fair share of the load. Many museum’s find it tough to be financially solvent these days. Unless they are a truly exciting museum that can fund itself with gate receipts, they will need another source of revenue, either corporate or public. I love college football and went to the CFHF on several occasions, but found it to be a rather boring and a “dull” museum. Once through it, little reason to go back. Hopefully, with Atlanta’s population base and corporate headquarters funding will be there for it. Perhaps they will look at why it failed in Cincinnati and South Bend and give it some more “pizazz” or excitement to make people want to come back again and again. But if the NFF asks for a contract with the city of Atlanta to make up any shortcomings in revenue, I suggest people look at the articles of former South Bend Tribune writer and current Chicago Tribune writer David Haugh, and those written by a local retired school teacher and Hall critic Jim Cierznak(?). And if they insist on using local tax dollars, let them go to Texas and suck up some of Jerry Jones extra bucks. Good Luck.
Dustin Blythe
September 23rd, 2009
3:53 pm
As a South Bend/Mishawaka resident, this is bad news. Those who hate the Hall here are legion, mostly because of former Mayor Kernan’s pledge that no taxpayer money would go to support the Hall (a pledge that was violated soon thereafter). I think the Hall is a draw and is important to our downtown. 60,000 fans to an area the size of South Bend (population 109,000), albeit less than expected, is still nothing to shrug off.
The main problem with the Hall, as I see it, is the perception of bias. All other major sports Halls of Fame are located near the acknowledged birthplaces of those respective sports: baseball’s is in Cooperstown New York, pro football’s is in Canton Ohio, basketball’s is in Springfield Massachusetts. College football’s should be located near Harvard/Yale or somewhere where it is universally acknowledged that the sport was born and/or grew into prominence. Anywhere else is tainted by the appearance of bias.
I think the main problem with South Bend as a location was the perception that it was a Notre Dame museum. In Atlanta, will it be seen as a Georgia Tech/Georgia/SEC museum?
Our loss is Atlanta’s gain. I wish you good luck.
Boneyard Randy
September 23rd, 2009
4:06 pm
Sounds like the people rippin’ on Atlanta haven’t visited since the early 90s. The only thing bad about centennial park/aquarium/coca cola is too many kids! Some hot soccer moms, though.
1) Lemons 2) ??? 3) PROFIT!!
September 23rd, 2009
4:18 pm
Anyone still grieving over NASCAR putting their HOF in North Carolina?
…didn’t think so. Good luck “growing the sport” there.
Suckers.
Mike Lambo
September 24th, 2009
4:45 pm
Good Luck Atlanta, as the NFF really gave South Bend Indiana the shaft. The city built the building over 10 years ago at a cost of 18 million dollars and the College Football Hall is leaving South Bend while the city still owes 11 million dollars on the building. The Enshrinment Festival is very well participated by a large number of people but the Hall itself has done very poorly to promote itself. Please be sure to get a agreement between them and Atlanta that will not let them bail out on you with out being reimbursed in some way. In a few years they might just move to Dallas. Still we up north here wish you the best of luck!
Atlanta: College FB central « Human Clipping Service
October 10th, 2009
6:45 am
[...] such as Bama-Virginia Tech or Bama-Clemson. (Updated 9/23/09: The College Football Hall of Fame reportedly will relocate to [...]
sda
October 13th, 2009
7:23 am
http://www.forthomson.com
sda
October 13th, 2009
7:24 am
http://www.choseitemnow.com
sda
October 13th, 2009
7:25 am
http://www.webbuyshoesnow.com
sda
October 13th, 2009
7:25 am
http://www.popshoesshine.com
sda
October 13th, 2009
7:26 am
http://www.mytimberzone.com
sda
October 13th, 2009
7:27 am
http://www.nice-store.com
ThatGuy
October 19th, 2009
2:35 am
With all these museums and revenue the state’s getting, I’d expect for the mayor to just be sending us bonus money in the mail.