Tuesday, November 24, 2020

Homeless halls of fame for funk music and more


Not all halls of fame are successful. Some that are lucky enough to get a physical location end up failing.
What follows is a look at some displaced and struggling halls of fame.

  • The Georgia Radio Hall of Fame announced in August that its Georgia Radio Museum in LaGrange, Georgia, has closed permanently. It had been closed since mid-March due to the Covid-19 pandemic. (See opinion article and news story from the LaGrange Daily News.)
  • The Funk Music Hall of Fame and Exhibition Center in Dayton, Ohio, closed in April 2019. The Funk Center had opened in December 2017. It’s looking for a new home. (See articles in Dayton.com and Facebook.)
  • The Wisconsin Polka Hall of Fame is in its death throes from a lack of interest in the music genre, according to the Green Bay Press Gazette. The group used to display plaques and awards at the Chandelier Ballroom in Hartford, Wisconsin. But now that memorabilia is in storage.
  • The Greater Buffalo Sports Hall of Fame is looking for a new home after losing its space in the KeyBank Center in Buffalo, N.Y., in May 2019. A limited collection of artifacts is on temporary display in a room at Sahlen Field, home of the Buffalo Bisons minor league baseball team. (See article by the Buffalo News.)
  • The Michigan Jewish Sports Hall of Fame is looking for a new home. The organization lost its exhibit space after the Jewish Community Center of Metropolitan Detroit in West Bloomfield, Michigan, closed its health club. (See article by the Jewish News and the group’s Facebook page.)
  • The Minnesota Fishing Museum and Hall of Fame in Little Falls, Minnesota, is struggling and is currently closed due to Covid-19 restrictions. (See article by the Duluth News Tribune.)
  • The University of Miami Sports Hall of Fame is asking for financial help after canceling or postponing two of its biggest events — including the 2020 induction banquet — because of the coronavirus pandemic. It operates a museum in Coral Gables, Florida. (See article by the Miami Herald.)

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