College Football HOF Moving To Atlanta From South Bend

College Football HOF Leaving South Bend, Indiana For Atlanta

The College Football HOF is "moving to Atlanta" from its current location in South Bend, Indiana, according to a front-page piece by Roberson & Stafford of the ATLANTA CONSTITUTION. A Georgia state official said that the move "would be announced in a Thursday press conference" at ESPN Zone in Atlanta. Chick-fil-A Bowl reps, "who have been working to lure the Hall to Atlanta for the past three years, declined to comment." Atlanta hospitality officials have "supported bringing the hall" to the city, "hoping the museum would help provide another element to the downtown attractions that have sprung up around Centennial Olympic Park." College Football HOF President Steve Hatchell last year said that the HOF "did not have plans to move." However, the "possibility of moving the museum has been on the radar of Atlanta and other cities, particularly Dallas," because "attendance has lagged" since the HOF moved to South Bend from Cincinnati in '95 (ATLANTA CONSTITUTION, 9/23). South Bend Mayor Stephen Luecke today said that officials with the National Football Foundation, which runs the HOF, told him yesterday the hall "was terminating its agreement with the city." Luecke said that South Bend's agreement with the HOF "runs through 2010, but that he would consider closing the hall before then" (AP, 9/23).  

HEADED SOUTH: Atlanta-based real estate PR exec Tony Wilbert said that the Cathy family, who founded Chick-fil-A, is "expected to donate the land" for the new site (AJC.com, 9/22). A source said that Atlanta was chosen over Dallas because of its "civic and business backing and the attractive downtown tourist areas and its many attractions" (BIZJOURNALS.com, 9/22). Dallas Mayor Tom Leppert said that Atlanta and the state of Georgia "offered substantial cash subsidies that Dallas was not willing to match." Leppert: "They offered subsidies well in excess of what we were willing to put on the table" (DALLAS MORNING NEWS, 9/23).