Halls of Fame Funding

Macon leaders cannot agree on a way to help fund the Georgia Sports and Music Halls of Fame, and that's bad news for the future of the two Macon museums.
The Halls of Fame are state agencies, but over the last two years there's been a growing desire at the State Capitol to have the City of Macon contribute something financially. Any change would have to be approved by Macon's local legislative delegation.
The city came up with a plan and voted to raise the hotel-motel tax by a penny and split the proceeds between the two halls. But, that proposal was rejected by some democratic lawmakers who want the money split four ways. City councilman Erick Erickson says the city is in a tough spot.

"They're being held hostage by the Governor and General Assembly who are demanding local funds unlike any other state financed project and they're also being held hostage to David Lucas and Robert Brown wanting this amphitheatre/football stadium. No one else wanted it. No one else asked for it. We had a unanimous county and city saying we just wanted a two-way split and yet for some reason we can't get it."

Erickson says the members of the local delegation need to come together so the museums do not close.

Georgia Sports Hall of Fame ceremony returns to Macon

After a one year absence, the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame induction ceremony is headed back to Macon.
Officials with the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame Authority voted to return the ceremony to Macon. This year the event was held in Atlanta and raised 86-thousand dollars.
However, people in Macon were determined to get the ceremony back to the museum's home town and held a radio telethon. Local sports talk show host, Bill Shanks says that event raised 40-thousand dollars in pledges including a gift from major league pitcher, Kevin Brown, who is a member of the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame.
"He was extremely impressed with how he was treated the year he was inducted, which was 2007, and just how special the event was here in Macon, and he pledged 10-thousand dollars which was a huge surprise and obviously very, very, welcome."
This year Georgia lawmakers voted to cut the museum's budget by 150-thousand dollars and said the facility must become self sufficient within the next five years.