The Georgia Sports Hall of Fame is located in Macon, Georgia.
It is the largest state sports hall of fame in America at 43,000
square-feet. The Hall of Fame houses over 14,000 square feet of
exhibit space broken down into sections including Hall of Fame
Inductees, High School, Collegiate Sports, Olympic, Paralympic,
Professional Sports, and Great Moments in Georgia Sports History
areas. Interactive exhibits in the museum include NASCAR simulators,
basketball and football games, and computer programs.
The Hall of Fame is owned by the state of Georgia and operated
by the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame Authority. It is governed by
an 18 member Authority appointed by the Governor, Lt. Governor,
and Speaker of the House of Representatives of the State of Georgia.
The Hall of Fame portion of the museum was created in 1956 as
the Georgia Prep Sports Hall of Fame. In 1963 it was expanded
to encompass prep, college, amateur and professional sports. In
1 the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame was officially created by the
Georgia State Legislature. Then, in 1994 the state of Georgia
appropriated $6.5 million to construct the Sports Hall of fame
museum, and added another $1.8 million in 1996. The total construction
of the building and its exhibits cost $8.3 million. The building
opened in 1999 and had more than 65,000 visitors during its first
year of operations. Yearly operations are partially funded by
the State of Georgia and partnerships with local organizations
provide in-kind contributions and relationships. Additional fundraising
is continued through facility rentals, a 5k walk, and Hall of
Fame induction ceremony table sales.
Meetings for the inductions process for the Georgia State Hall
of Fame are now all open to the public. While inductee selection
was always public screening meetings only recently became open
and it is considered somewhat controversial. To date over 300
members have been inducted into the Hall of Fame.
The Georgia Sports Hall of Fame has developed extensive rental
programs aimed at youths and area organizations. Youth party possibilities
include admission to the museum, catering availability, access
to chairs and tables, and use of the Georgia room for 2 hours.
Equipment rentals are available for parties including: TV/VCR,
overhead projectors, portable screens and easels. In addition
to youth parties the Hall of Fame also offers rentals of the Conference
Room, the Georgia Room the Rotunda and the Theater.
The building itself was built to resemble a turn of the century
ballpark, with red-brick exterior and green roof. From the old
style ticket booths to the brick columns in the rotunda and special
lighting the Hall of Fame was created to put visitors into the
heart of a sports experience.