New College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta set to open August 23 (Video)
Five years after it was announced that the College Football Hall of Fame would move from South Bend, Indiana to Atlanta, the opening date for the new facility has been announced.
The new 94,000-square-foot, $66 million building in downtown Atlanta will have its grand opening on August 23 -- the Saturday before the start of the college football season. According to the Associated Press, the Hall of Fame’s opening is meant to coincide with two early-season games being held at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta: Ole Miss vs. Boise State on August 28 and Alabama vs. West Virginia on August 30.
John Stephenson, the CEO and president of Atlanta Hall Management, told the Atlanta Journal Constitution that the official name for the facility is “The College Football Hall of Fame and Chick-fil-A Fan Experience” and that Chick-fil-A has signed a “30-year agreement” to be the Hall’s lead sponsor.
According to the Hall’s website, the new building is meant to “celebrate the pageantry and traditions of college football” and will feature “historic and contemporary artifacts, interactive multimedia displays, a theater, and special event spaces,” among other features.
Here’s a projection of what the new space will look like. It’s an impressive upgrade.
Construction on the facility began back in January 2013 and is expected to reach its completion on August 1, Stephenson told the AJC.
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Sam Cooper is a contributor for the Yahoo Sports blogs. Have a tip? Email him or follow him on Twitter!
