Which, to me, is a very bad idea. There needs to be one central place where all of that stuff can be displayed. It's not like NASA, where there is enough interest for there to be displays in Florida, Texas, and Alabama, as well as Washington, DC and Kansas. Be it St. Louis, New Jersey, Atlanta, Washington, etc., it all needs to be in one place, and someplace where people will go to see it. I for one wouldn't want to have to travel all over the US to see all of the artifacts; there simply isn't enough to go around and make it worthwhile.
I don't think one place should be singled out. The United States is a large and diverse area. The National Team does not play in one "National Stadium" so the history of American soccer should be on wide display. There are several worthy places that could exhibit the artifacts (rather than go into storage): Smithsonian Institute (Washington, D.C.) The International Soccer Archives (Florida) Red Bull Arena (New Jersey) - if they have room Respectfully, St. Louis' collection, while honorable, is one glass case in a small club hall. There is little or no room at the Soccer House in Chicago. The building is layed out for offices - not accomodating to tourists. If one of the MLS clubs is yet planning a stadium, a museum would be a year-round attraction and an income bonus.
Tried to go there in December and was dismayed. Colin Jose gave me a good rundown on the nonsense involved. Enough money to get David Beckham, not enough to showcase any soccer history before MLS.
It is the archives that are to be sent to a storage facility in North Carolina, not the exhibits from the museum. Different thing.
Of course the Hall is closing. It exposed a American soccer history that went deeper than MLS and a bunch of puritans kicking little potato sacks.
Does this mean an end to the average Joe looking through the archives? At least for the foreseeable future?
The average Joe never could look through the archives. Researchers and some other people could. The archives were a behind-the-scenes area that was not open to the public. Every museum has areas like that. Are you confusing the archives with the stuff that was exhibited in the museum? They are not the same thing. The archives, which are to be moved to a storage facility in North Carolina, are a collection of documents, old soccer newspapers and magazines, scrapbooks, media guides, books and other memorabilia donated to the Hall of Fame over the years, all of it housed in more than 1,000 storage boxes in a back room of the Hall of Fame. It is stuff of interest to people doing research on the history of soccer in the United States, rather than stuff of interest to the average Joe. According to the announcement made a month or so ago, the museum exhibits are to be divided among several smaller exhibits at various places around the country. I don't know whether any decisions have been made since about either the number or the location of those smaller exhibits.
Roger, thanks for the clarification. Once moved, will the archives even be available to the soccer research community?
They won't at first, while things get organized in Hillsborough. I would hope that there might be some degree of access for researchers later, but I don't think anything has been decided about that. The first priority, at least in my mind, is to accomplish the move to Hillsborough and see to it that the archives have a new home where they can be kept together in one place. I don't think that making them available to researchers again should become an issue until the first is secured.
http://www.kansascity.com/2010/04/13/1875932_p2/kc-area-shows-interest-in-national.html KC is trying to get the Hall of Fame to make it part of the Wizards new stadium.
Look... anyone who says 'respect the game and its history' THEN suggests anywhere but near St Louis or the NY outliers is not really a deep thinker. Just remember: Canton, Cooperstown, Springfield and... _______? NOT Florida, Not LA, NOT Seattle and Not Las Vegas, okay? And someone qualify KC's cred! Those Texas drovers get together for a kickaround on arriving at the railhead, did they? So OTHER than StLouis, I'll settle for an MLS club stadium site. Which would be Philly's or North Jersey/RB For Blind idiocies... you would expect the College football HoF to be in an ivy league city, wouldnt you? Well Now it's in South Bend. Ehhh.. not too bad. But now it's gonna move to Atlanta! Shit, what a joke. Why not Tuscaloosa!!!
This is partly due the efforts of the NSCAA in getting back their donated artifacts. It would be wise for the MLS or any other organization that donated items, retrieve them before they are lost, stolen or sold. They do not belong in storage and the Hall should not have custody if they are not going to exhibit them. The mismanagement of the Hall in Oneonta is not only shame but an embarrassment.
Mismanagement -How about almost $3 million dollars in State money - free donations of artifacts from MLS, NSCAA and other leagues- and open support from the US Soccer Federation. Under paid staff, free research interns and volunteers. And still cannot stay solvent. No one forced them to keep the museum in Oneonta or restricted them from touring the collection. Thinking - free, Inovation - free, mismanaging - priceless.
Well,the "free" money was,in fact tied to keeping the museum in Oneonta (free government money-yeah, right). What would the costs have been of touring the collection vs. revenue gained?If it was going to be a money maker,then,yeah ,they should've done it. AFA the low and unpaid folks who worked there,I'm sorry,but welcome to a non-profit.Ya wanna work for a solvent company,do softlines for WalMart.Take a shower after if you feel dirty. Main issue-we built it,they didn't come.Of course,that's a management decision too,so you're still right.
USA Today USA Today has an article on sports halls-of-fame facing financial distress. http://www.usatoday.com/sports/story/2011-10-02/sports-museums-feeling-economic-pinch/51031494/1 Of course, it is not happening solely to sports museums. For example, the Detroit Science Center has been closed for a month.
SJJ, thanks for posting a link to that article. Interesting that the author doesn't even mention the Soccer Hall of Fame closing. The author compares sports museums to art museums. But there is one huge difference between the two. Art museums constantly bring in new art. There are always temporary exhibits, so if you like the museum, you have reason to go back and see it again. A sports museum usually has just one exhibit that is there all the time. So even if you like it, there isn't much reason to go back. Dave www.DaveBrett.com