Originally scheduled to open later this year, the College Football Hall of Fame in downtown Atlanta is headed back to the drawing board with no new date for the project's groundbreaking, much less its completion. And the hall's owner is disappointed by the delays.
Atlanta Hall Management, the group responsible for planning and building the attraction, is reassessing all its plans for the football shrine, including its cost, size and anticipated annual attendance. Among the reasons for the delay was a fall-off in fundraising. After an initial burst of donations, new investors have become difficult to find.
The project has been cast as a major addition to the downtown tourist zone that already includes the Georgia Aquarium and the new World of Coca-Cola. The possibility that Atlanta could lose the hall has prompted other cities to renew their own bids for the attraction.
"We're not prepared to come out with a new budget or timeline or schedule until we're comfortable we have fully vetted it and that the new metrics are based in good data and good analysis," said John Stephenson, Atlanta Hall Management's interim chief executive officer and president.
They'll have to work fast. The National Football Foundation, which owns the rights to the facility, expects to see a new plan at its board meeting in mid-April, said Steve Hatchell, president and CEO of the foundation.
"We like the reset. At 30,000 feet, all the reasons we wanted to move to Atlanta are still there," Hatchell said. "Yes, we're disappointed [by the delays]. Is it a make-or-break type thing now? No, it's not."
Hatchell said that while the NFF still believes "100 percent" the attraction will be built in Atlanta, other cities have heard about the delays and expressed interest in the project. He would not name the cities.
"I think the fair way to say that is, [yes,] there have been cities that have expressed interest with this delay," Hatchell said, but added the NFF has "absolutely not" followed up on those inquiries.
The hall's reset is the latest hindrance to a project that was considered a coup for Atlanta when it was announced with great pomp in September 2009 that Atlanta won out over Dallas, which was also working to lure the football hall. NFF leaders decided to relocate from the facility's home in South Bend, Ind., because they believed Atlanta, which was on a downtown attraction roll with the Georgia Aquarium and the new World of Coca Cola, had the destination appeal to bring more visitors to the hall.
Slated to be located in what is now the "green" parking lot of the Georgia World Congress Center, at least 500,000 football enthusiasts were projected to visit annually, far above the about 60,000 who visit it on average each year now in South Bend. One projection anticipated a $560 million impact to the city over the first 10 years.
The state of Georgia was so encouraged by the new hall that the Legislature allotted $10 million in general obligation bonds for land purchases at a time when state leaders were squeezing teacher salaries and laying off employees. The Atlanta Development Authority, now called Invest Atlanta, also stepped up, pledging $10 million in new market tax credits.
Other investors included SunTrust, which offered $15 million in new market tax credits, Chick-fil-A (a $5 million donation) and the Chick-fil-A Bowl ($5 million). All totaled, the facility has about $33 million in commitments.
But the project has struggled since, including delayed construction and opening dates, yo-yoing costs and dwindling commitments for funds. What was to cost $50 million for a 50,000-square-foot facility later grew to $82 million for 75,000 square feet.
Heywood Sanders, a professor of public administration at the University of Texas at San Antonio, said similar attractions are scrambling for funds across the board because their success is not a given. For example, Charlotte's NASCAR Hall of Fame, which Atlanta tried to lure, is operating at a deficit. The National Center for Human and Civil Rights, another attraction that's being developed for Atlanta, has pushed back its opening date several times because of fund-raising difficulties.
"[The reset] sends the realistic signal that these things don't generate the philanthropic backing that they need in this economic climate," Sanders said.
A spokesman for the convention center said its leaders back Atlanta Hall Management's decision.
"The Georgia World Congress Center Authority fully supports the recent actions by Atlanta Hall Management to take a step back and review all aspects of their plan associated with construction and funding for the College Football Hall of Fame," said Mark Geiger. "We are confident in the current direction the Hall leadership team is moving and look forward to a long-term partnership with their organization."
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