Update on the College Football Hall of Fame (Atlanta: 2013, loan)

[tonygeorgia]

Groundbreaking is scheduled for February 2012 and the opening for fall 2013. The project has grown from a 50,000-square-foot, $50-million facility to a 75,000-square-foot, $82-million facility. $33 million in commitments have been secured, including, he said, $15 million in state bonds, $6 million from Chick-fil-A, $5 million from the Chick-fil-A Bowl and $2.5 million from Coca-Cola. The organization will need $48 million before they can break ground.


A conversation with Gary Stokan about College Football Hall of Fame *| ajc.com

[Caltovegas]

Now the people who are still living in the Herschel Walker glory Days are never going to let it go.

[AnsleyPark]

Originally Posted by Caltovegas

Now the people who are still living in the Herschel Walker glory Days are never going to let it go.

No we are not!!!! Woof!!!!

[Caltovegas]

YouTube - ‪Larry Munson's Famous Calls - Herschel's First TD‬‏

[DawgPark]

Still get chills every time I hear Munson's call from that 1980 UT game. That whole season was like a fairy tale to me as a 9 yr old kid.

Not many times in my life have I felt more pure jubilation than after Buck to Lindsay in JAX and seeing Dooley carried across the field after beating Notre Dame.

[arjay57]

Good news on the Hall of Fame!

[AnsleyPark]

Great. Thanks for the Munson link. Now I've been watching Bulldog YouTube vids for the last hour. My wife thinks me a bit crazy...

[po-boy]

Here is another update:

College Football Hall of Fame needs $20 million by year end | SaportaReport

Looks like $22 million has been raised, along with a bank loan of $27.5 million (contingent on further financing) and they are hoping to raise another $20 million by the end of 2011 so construction can start in Feb. 2012 and it can open in August of 2013. It is interesting that they are struggling with this since not too long ago they revised it up from a $50 million project (see the original post).

The article quotes the CEO of Georgia Power as saying, “The reality is that if we don’t get the momentum here, there is an expectation they would go someplace else. We are at a critical juncture.”

[tonygeorgia]

That's not good

[po-boy]

The College Football Hall of Fame just seems like such a natural fit for Atlanta (being the defacto center of the SEC, the conference with the most rabid college football fans in the country). I personally would love to check it out.

It also seems that the CFB HOF plus just a couple more major attractions would really give Atlanta a "critical mass" as a destination. I hope they can get this off the ground. It would really stink if it went somewhere else.

I wonder how much of that quote is a bit of a scare tactic to encourage more money...seems like fundraising would be hard anywhere and if they decided to look in a new direction that would put it even further behind schedule.