College Football Hall of Fame moving to Atlanta

Representatives for the Chick-fil-A Bowl, who have been working to lure the Hall to Atlanta for the past three years, declined to comment.

Lisa Malin, the Hall’s executive director, did not immediately return a phone call or e-mail. Neither did Steven Hatchell, president and chief executive officer of the National Football Foundation, which oversees the Hall.

Atlanta hospitality officials have supported bringing the hall here, hoping the museum would help provide another element to the downtown attractions that have sprung up around Centennial Olympic Park.

The museum will become a unique sports draw in a district that already includes the Georgia Aquarium, the World of Coca-Cola, CNN Center and the anticipated Center for Human and Civil Rights. Plans for a health museum also have been announced.

“The College Football Hall of Fame would certainly bring tourists to the city and would be a great addition to our portfolio,” said William Pate, president of the Atlanta Convention and Visitors Bureau.

Pate said he was not aware of Thursday’s press conference.

Only last year in interview with the AJC, Hatchell said the hall did not have plans to move.

“Some people have come to us and said that if we ever wanted to move, they would be interested in talking to us,” Hatchell said in the interview. “But we have a long-term contract with South Bend and have not put out any requests for proposals.”

But Gary Stokan, president of the Chick-fil-A Bowl, said in that same story that he told Hatchell that Atlanta —“the nerve center of college football” — would like to have a shot at the Hall of Fame if it decides to consider relocating.

The possibility of moving the museum has been on the radar of Atlanta and other cities, particularly Dallas — which had the financial backing of billionaire T. Boone Pickens — because attendance has lagged at the South Bend location.

The museum, established by the National Football Foundation in 1951, moved to South Bend from the Cincinnati area in 1995. The Hall and South Bend have a 40-year contract that is divided into five-year increments with various out clauses.

Atlanta leaders have been anxious to lure more attractions to downtown since losing the NASCAR Hall of Fame in 2006 to Charlotte.

The current football Hall features 20 exhibits, including celebrations of past champions, chronicles of great rivalries and a level for visitors to practice passing and kicking. It honors more than 900 former players or coaches.

The move would amplify Atlanta place a one of the centers of college football, hospitality leaders said. The nearby Georgia Dome already hosts several college football games, including the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game, the SEC Championship game, the Atlanta Football Classic and the Chick-fil-A Bowl. Each of those games regularly draws 70,000-plus attendance.