Mascot Hall of Fame closing its doors

One of the oddest halls of fame that you can visit is the Mascot Hall of Fame in Whiting, Indiana. But sadly the hall is closing its doors in September to make way for a development project by BP, the British multinational oil and gas company. The Mascot Hall of Fame will continue to exist online as a virtual hall.
The Mascot Hall of Fame celebrates famous North American sports mascots for professional and college teams like the Phillie Phanatic, Mr. Met, Benny the Bull, Bucky Badger and Nittany Lion.
The museum opened in December 2018 but faced sustainability challenges, relying heavily on partnerships, donations and public funding.
The Mascot Hall of Fame is holding a “Grand FURnale” event on Sept. 14.
The physical location billed itself as an interactive children’s museum. That limited its appeal, in my opinion. I would have been interested in visiting the Mascot Hall of Fame if it were more of a museum that broadly examined the history of mascots. That includes not just sports but consumer products and services.
The hall needs to consider that if it opens a new physical location somewhere else.

Related articles:

Beloved Mascot Hall of Fame to close in Whiting (WGN; July 24, 2024)

Mascot Hall of Fame in NW Indiana to close (Fox 59; July 22, 2024)

Halls of fame for rhythm and blues, gospel music and more still hoping for physical homes

The New Jersey Hall of Fame just opened a physical location for visitors to learn more about the Garden State’s most important citizens. But many other organizations are still trying to open brick-and-mortar hall-of-fame museums for their passions.
What follows is a few that have announced locations for their potential halls of fame.

National Rhythm & Blues Hall of Fame

In September 2022, the National Rhythm & Blues Hall of Fame Foundation held a groundbreaking ceremony in Marks, Miss. It hopes to build a “permanent brick-and-mortar state-of-the-art world-class complex” to house the R&B hall of fame, according to a press release.
But as of October 2023, when a Google Maps Street View car drove by the site, there had been no construction activity. There also haven’t been any progress reports published by the R&B hall or news agencies lately.
Since 2013, the National Rhythm & Blues Hall of Fame has inducted over 200 artists including James Brown, Aretha Franklin, Michael Jackson, Prince and Elvis Presley. But the hall remains virtual.

Gospel Music Hall of Fame

The Gospel Music Hall of Fame of Missouri hopes to turn the former Second Baptist Church in St. Louis. Mo., into a 40,000-square-foot museum, education, cultural and performing arts center. It looks to create Missouri’s first Gospel Music Hall of Fame Art Museum and Research Center. (See article by St. Louis Public Radio.)

College Baseball Hall of Fame

In January, the College Baseball Foundation announced plans to build the College Baseball Hall of Fame within the existing Museum at Prairiefire in Overland Park, Kan.
The foundation had previously considered building a museum on the campus of Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas.

Indiana Sports Hall of Fame

Organizers of the Indiana Sports Hall of Fame announced on July 4 that they had found a location for a future museum. The group has secured six acres at the Irvington Plaza shopping center on the east side of Indianapolis.
The group hopes to build a 60,000-square-foot building that will house the hall of fame as well as a banquet space, sports bar and outdoor activity area.
Indiana is already home to the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame in New Castle, Ind., and Indiana Baseball Hall of Fame in Jasper, Ind. Plus, it has the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Hall of Fame Museum in Indianapolis. The state previously had a physical museum for the Indiana Football Hall of Fame in Richmond, Ind., but it closed in 2021.

Mobile Sports Hall of Fame

The Mobile Sports Hall of Fame in Mobile, Ala., is looking to open an interactive museum in the lobby of the RSA Battle House Tower, according to AL.com. There is currently a mural in the lobby that depicts local sports greats like Hank Aaron and Satchel Paige.
Meanwhile, the city is building a Hall of Fame Walk with bronze statues of sports heroes outside the Mobile Convention Center. The area is called Heroes Plaza. That project is expected to be completed in late 2024 or early 2015, according to 1819 News and NBC 15 News.

Other physical halls of fame have been considered in recent years. They include a proposed UFC Hall of Fame and WWE Hall of Fame.

The newest U.S. halls of fame you can visit, starting with New Jersey

I’m intrigued by the number of halls of fame that you can visit spanning sports, entertainment, business and other endeavors. To date, I’ve documented over 500 halls of fame in North America.
What follows is a roundup of the newest physical halls of fame.

New Jersey Hall of Fame

On June 28, the New Jersey Hall of Fame’s Entertainment and Learning Center officially opened at the American Dream mall in East Rutherford, N.J.
The 10,000-square-foot facility honors New Jersey’s accomplishments in entertainment, sports, business and more. The center boasts state-of-the-art exhibits and highlights the accomplishments of more than 200 inductees.
(See articles by NJArts.net, NorthJersey.com and News 12 New Jersey.)

Maui Nui Hall of Fame

Maui County in Hawaii now has a Maui Nui Hall of Fame display at the Kahului Airport. The display honors 40 inductees who have made significant contributions to Hawaii sports, music and films from across the county. The exhibit opened in June.
(See articles by Maui Now, KHON 2, Hawaii Public Radio and VitaVerse News.)

World Golf Hall of Fame

The World Gold Hall of Fame relocated to a new facility in Pinehurst, N.C., on June 10. The museum is located in USGA’s Golf House Pinehurst. The World Golf Hall of Fame had been in St. Augustine, Fla., for a quarter century.
The Member Locker Room at the Hall of Fame features nearly 3,000 artifacts showcasing the most accomplished and influential figures in the game.

New Mexico Music Hall of Fame

The New Mexico Music Hall of Fame has an exhibit at the Route 66 Visitors Center in Albuquerque, N.M. The 21,000-square-foot visitor center includes a taproom, event space, museum and amphitheater. Organizers are doing a staggered rollout of operations at the new facility.

Photos: New Jersey Hall of Fame and World Golf Hall of Fame.