New physical halls of fame in the works for home furnishings, sailing, opera and more

For every new physical hall of fame that opens, there are probably a dozen more that are in the planning stages. And most of those wannabes likely will never get enough funding and support to open.
The most recent halls of fame to open are the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Hall of Fame in Colorado Springs, Colorado; the Ellensburg Rodeo Hall of Fame in Ellensburg, Washington; and the Supply Chain Hall of Fame in Rogers, Arkansas.
There are more than 475 physical halls of fame in North America.
What follows is a summary of U.S. halls of fame that are working to open brick-and-mortar museums and physical exhibit spaces that people can visit.

American Home Furnishings Hall of Fame

The American Home Furnishings Hall of Fame is scheduled to open in 2022 in High Point, N.C. The hall will serve as a showcase for the home furnishings industry and will include exhibits and memorabilia.

National Sailing Hall of Fame

The National Sailing Hall of Fame will be included in The Sailing Museum, which is scheduled to open in spring 2022 in Newport, Rhode Island. The museum also will include a gallery for the America’s Cup Hall of Fame, which is currently housed at the Herreshoff Marine Museum in Bristol, R.I.

Opera Hall of Fame

In October, the organization Opera America announced the first 10 inductees to the newly created Opera Hall of Fame. The inaugural class of the Opera Hall of Fame will be honored at an induction ceremony in early 2022 in New York City. The Opera Hall of Fame will be located in the Sherrill Milnes Honors Gallery at Opera America’s National Opera Center in Manhattan.

Comic-Con Museum Character Hall of Fame

The Comic-Con Museum dedicated to comics, science-fiction and fantasy movies and TV shows and more will open in 2021 in San Diego’s Balboa Park. Among the exhibits will be the Comic-Con Museum Character Hall of Fame. Last year, Batman became the first inductee. On Nov. 19, the museum chose video game character Pac-Man as its second inductee.

Ohio Air & Space Hall of Fame and Museum

The Ohio Air & Space Hall of Fame and Museum is being built in the unused Port Columbus Air Terminal at John Glenn International Airport in Columbus, Ohio. It is expected to open in late 2021.

Memphis Sports Hall of Fame

The Memphis Sports Experience and Hall of Fame had been scheduled to open this year on the press level of AutoZone Park in Memphis, Tennessee. But the shutdown of sports caused by the Covid-19 pandemic has pushed back those plans. (See articles by Daily Memphian and Memphis Business Journal.)

New Jersey Hall of Fame

The New Jersey Hall of Fame is set to open a museum — its first permanent physical home — at the American Dream complex in East Rutherford, N.J., in 2021. The latest inductees included Oscar-winning actress Anne Hathaway, Giants football great Eli Manning, Grammy-winning gospel singer Cissy Houston and Noble Prize-winning economist Milton Friedman.

And here’s a bonus hall of fame located in the Caribbean.

International Scuba Diving Hall of Fame

The International Scuba Diving Hall of Fame is getting a permanent home at the Pedro St. James Castle in Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands. The exhibit was supposed to open in 2020.

Related resource:

Map of halls of fame in the U.S. and Canada