Georgia Music Hall of Fame may close if it doesn't raise $225,000

By Jennifer Brett

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

“Something's Gotta Give,” Johnny Mercer once wrote. His lyrics might be fitting for the Georgia Music Hall of Fame, which begins a tribute exhibit to the Savannah songwriter today. The Macon museum, facing lower revenues and state funding, says it may close if it doesn't raise $225,000 by Oct. 27.

“Right now we don't have sufficient money to continue operating with the integrity and quality that the legacies of our inductees deserve,” said executive director Lisa Love. The museum has always relied on state funding for a hefty percentage of its operating budget, and recent budget cuts imperil its future, she said.

“The museum cannot be self-sustaining in this market,” Love said. “We're a huge, fantastic destination, in a small market.”

Museum authority members met this week in Atlanta and released a statement saying the facility's days could be numbered.

“At the October board meeting, if funds have not been identified then the board will consider approving a plan to close the museum, effective Dec. 31,” a motion approved by the authority states.

Even if the short-term fund-raiser is successful, the $225,000 will merely see the museum through to the end of the fiscal year. Love wants to see more permanent measures.

“I'd love to see a public-private partnership, getting our inductees and fans engaged in building a sizable enough endowment that we have financial stability,” Love said.

Authority chairwoman Karla Redding Andrews, daughter of Georgia soul legend Otis Redding, noted the museum has cut costs by implementing furlough days, closing on Sundays and Mondays and reducing the staff from nine to four full-time positions.

“We're going to continue to promote Georgia music as we have done but do it more efficiently,” said Andrews, who also favors a multi-pronged approach to improving the hall' s finances long-term. Involving private investors, partnerships with other facilities and help from the museum's honored artists could all be part of future financial health. One thing she’s sure of is the museum's location.

“Everybody understands the importance of the hall staying in Macon,” Andrews said.

Well, not everyone.

“The Hall of Fame needs to be in Atlanta,” said industry veteran Bobbie Bailey, who was inducted in 2007. “It's in the wrong place. It's been in the wrong place since the beginning.”

Bailey has served as president of the Friends of Georgia Music Festival and executive producer of the Georgia Music Hall of Fame Awards Show.

“I'm very sad about even thinking about it [closing],” Bailey said. “We've got to keep this thing going.”

The Georgia Music Hall of Fame was created in 1979, but the facility came later. The 43,000-square-foot building opened in 1996 at a cost of $6.6 million. A November 2008 state audit shows that it generated about $1.3 million from 2004 to 2008 and spent more than $5.5 million. Its state funding during that time was more than $5.2 million, the audit shows.

The report, compiled by the Georgia Department of Audits and Accounts, forecasts a continuing financial gulf.

“Based on the Music Hall of Fame’s average annual revenues and expenditures for the period 2004 through 2008, we have projected that in 2012 the Hall's expenditures will total $1,101,136, or $847,040 more than its projected revenues of $254,096.

For the facility to become self-sustaining it would need a significant spike in visitors, the audit found.

“The Hall's annual visitation would have to increase from 27,075 in 2008 to 140,989 in 2012,” it reads.

The museum, located just off of Interstate 16, highlights various genres of music, from rock and roll to beach music to gospel. Its inductees include Dallas Austin, R.E.M., the Indigo Girls, Kenny Rogers, Otis Redding and Ray Charles. Macon Mayor Robert Reichert says his city is taking a number of approaches to ensure the future of the museum as well as the nearby Georgia Sports Hall of Fame, recognizing both as “significant assets.”

The city anticipates the opening of a new Marriott will draw tourists, and is hopeful that it will be able to up its hotel/motel tax one percent to 7 percent to reap additional revenue. Additionally, the city hopes downtown revitalization efforts, including a $6 million restoration of the historic Union Station, will boost the area in general and aid the halls of fame specifically.

“We want to do everything we can to keep them viable, to keep them open and to keep them here in Macon,” Reichert said.

Staff writer Leon Stafford contributed.