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[ironchapman]

I just encountered this story while browsing sports news. Atlanta;s about to get another great attraction coming to the city. Remember how we wanted, but didn't get, the NASCAR Hall of Fame? Well, we're getting a hall of fame this time, the College Football Hall of Fame.

Via ESPN: Copllege Football Hall of Fame is Moving to Atlanta

Quote

The College Football Hall of Fame, which never managed to attract the number of visitors its organizers hoped for after moving it to South Bend in 1995, is being moved to Atlanta to bring it more exposure, organizers told the city.

[..]

South Bend Mayor Stephen Luecke said Wednesday that he met with football foundation officials on Tuesday and they told him that the move would be announced at a news conference Thursday in Atlanta.

So, what are your thoughts? How will this affect the city?

There's certainly a case for it to be here. UGA and GT are close by, and many great SEC and ACC teams are within a day's drive of the city. John Heisman spent many of his best years at Tech, and Pop Warner spent some time at UGA. Valdosta State and Georgia Southern aren't far away either. Then, of course, there's the fanatical devotion many in the South have for college football.

I think it would be a great way to draw more tourists into the city.

EDIT: The AJC has this to add. The HOF will be built in the Centennial Olympic Park area. I'm glad the city is still trying to make the area into a tourist hub, and I'm sure this will only add to it.

Also, feel free to use this topic for development updates as they come.

[Lady Celeste]

I wanted to reserve my comments on the College Football Hall of Fame until I was for sure it was in the bag. Well we now know that it is official. I'm pretty excited about it. Atlanta is easily in Top 5 convention cities in the country so anything that can add to the conventioneer's visit is always a benefit. I am also glad to see that it will be located in what is quickly becoming a tourist tour de force. Atlanta is home to many cultural venues...unfortunately they are not always in easy access to someone not familiar with the city (Carlos Museum @ Emory University, MLK National Site, APEX Museum, Stone Mountain, Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield, Herndon Home, Margaret Mitchell House, Wrens Nest, Atlanta Motor Speedway, Lake Lanier, Lake Allatoona and so on and so forth).

In this one area we will now have the Georgia Aquarium (still the world's largest), CNN Center, The World of Coca~Cola, The Children's Museum, The GA World Congress Center (fourth largest in the US), the future home of the Center for Civil and Human Rights (2012), Georgia Dome, Philips Arena, the Fairlie-Poplar District as well as the planned national health museum that was announced last year. Atlanta may not offer everything for everybody but with this vast assortment of venues plus others throughout metro Atlanta, if offers a plethora of options for MANY different type of people.

This is great for Atlanta and its vast convention industry. I am quite excited and glad to have it here. Although the people of South Bend seem to not be loosing any sleep over the move, I am glad to see that they are quite gracious to the city of Atlanta. Perhaps by locating in Atlanta, the CFHoF can have a chance to grow and become with it was envisioned to be. It definitely helps to be in a location with so much convention traffic and a metro area that is approaching 6 million people. To be duly noted, the GA Aquarium has exceeded expectations and surpassed the 4 million visit mark late last year. It's opening date was Nov 23, 2005. That averages a little more than a million visitors a year. With easy access via Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport to 1000's of points across the globe, this should make visiting easy for many.

I'm quite elated.