Dallas Wants South Bend's College Football HOF
By FRANK HEINZ
Updated 7:35 PM CST, Mon, Apr 13, 2009
Dallas Mayor Tom Leppert is joining Roger Staubach, T. Boone Pickens, Deion Sanders and several others in launching a bid to relocate the College Football Hall of Fame to downtown Dallas.
The College Football Hall of Fame is currently in South Bend, Ind., but Dallas officials believe North Texas is a better fit.
"Bringing the College Football Hall of Fame here will be a game changer -- a game changer for the Hall of Fame, a game changer for downtown Dallas," said Leppert.
Leppert said Dallas could offer a higher profile for the museum than South Bend and could boost attendance -- where initial projections estimate 400,000 visitors in the first year.
Additionally, the relocation task force plans to privately raise the money to build, relocate and launch the new hall. The proposal to move the hall has been in the works for a year and the proposed location is adjacent to the controversial city-owned convention center hotel.
"Is it a done deal? No. We are going to have to work hard," said Leppert. "But clearly we would not be pursuing this unless we had a good sense from our conversations that success was possible."
In addition to the heavy-weight names on the relocation bid, President of Dallas-based TM Advertising, Tom Hansen, is joing the task force to go after the Hall of Fame to further Dallas' revitalization.
"We've worked with our strategic planning, media, events and sponsorship teams here to create a dynamic new business plan that will help make the new College Football Hall of Fame a truly immersive experience that celebrates the game's rich history, embraces its glorious heroes and eloquently tells their stories, while welcoming its future with open arms," said Hansen.
The final proposal should be ready by year's end.
First Published: Apr 13, 2009 1:38 PM CST
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