Arguably, Wichita already did its duty by the Kansas Sports Hall of Fame several years ago, investing $1.7 million in bonds to ready the former Abilene attraction’s current Old Town building. Nevertheless, the city now appears to have no choice but to cover the struggling hall’s $97,600 rent, which the City Council is expected to do Tuesday. Clearly, neither the city’s help nor the $250,000 allotted by the state Legislature last year has been enough to stabilize the Hall of Fame and assure its future. The hall is a nice asset for Wichita and Old Town, but it’s the state’s baby, having been created by the state in 1961 and affirmed as a state agency in 2000. If the hall is to survive, either the state or the state’s sports fans need to pay its way.
-
Registered?
Commenting on WE Blog now requires you to be a Kansas.com member. Use the links above to register, if you haven't already, or to log in. -
Contact us
Daily Archives
-
Recent Comments
- outlander on Pro-con: Is ‘Religulous’ justified in being skeptical about faith?
- American_Way on Presidential debate thread 10/15
- Boxlock on Presidential debate thread 10/15
- DavidB on Presidential debate thread 10/15
- American_Way on Presidential debate thread 10/15
- DavidB on Presidential debate thread 10/15
- American_Way on Presidential debate thread 10/15
- American_Way on Presidential debate thread 10/15
- Predestined on Presidential debate thread 10/15
- newsletter on Presidential debate thread 10/15
10 Comments
I just posted comments on today’s open thread which might have been more appropriate here under the sports heading. Basically I was commenting on the fact the National Baseball Congress (NBC) WORLD SERIES is being played here at Lawrence-Dumont Stadium this week and next.
Next weekend, the middle weekend, will be the great Wichita tradition of “Baseball round the clock” when baseball is played virtually continuously from Friday evening to Sunday evening. Nothing more nostalgic, comfortable, traditional than to watch continuous baseball games on a warm summer evening, under the canopy of the roof in case of rain, with hundreds of the “round the clockers” for company.
My concern, however, is that Wichita, meaning the sports community, the Wichita Visitors Bureau, the City, the various Chambers of Commerce groups … doesn’t do enough to recognize these teams of young baseball players and their sponsors to Wichita from all over America and, in some cases, the world.
Flags and banners should be flying around Lawrence-Dumont Stadium. A free buffet for the sponsors and players at the City’s Ice Sports across Maple Street perhaps on Saturday prior to the Round the Clock event or continuously through the three days of the event.
The NBC tournament is a great tradition of Wichita … a voluntary effort by the teams, one we don’t want to lose. Its a very tenuous situation, the teams should be treated with great respect to encourage them to continue to return to Wichita each year.
Last year about this time, the EAGLE published my letter to the editor in which I mentioned that a Wichita hometown girl, later a famous Hollywood movie star, VERA MILES, presented the winners cup sponsored that year by Coca Cola to the 1948 winning NBC team … unilaterally chosen by our then, now legendary, Wichita baseball czar, “Hap” Dumont
These are valuable traditions that need to be preserved here in Wichita, “River City,” USA.
Put a large screen in there with a pub and I’m sure the attendance will pick up.
:roll:
I’ve been to the KS Sports Hall of Fame. It’s boring. Jersey’s behind glass and a collection of news reports. Why would anyone waste their time there?
Personally my entrance was paid for by a friend. Even if I went for ‘free’ I will not return. That place needs something to offer besides browsing a low-end museum.
Let Bob Hansen sell memberships to his friends to fund it. If he refuses to do that then let it shut down. The director of that thing is paid much more than most of the taxpayrs who are paying for him make.
I’m going to have to confer with ProudMan.
I’m sorry folks. KSHOF is just a boring place. There goal to help inspire young people into sports isn’t going to do it.
The historical element aside, I agree the Kansas Sports Hall Of Fame isn’t really much of an attraction. Although, if any good can come out of Wichita’s decision to foot the bill for the KSHOF it’s that it’s deciding to put it’s money into something somewhat educational instead of bailing out over priced entertainment venues like the Downtown Warren Theatre. And even thats not saying much of anything at all.
Looks like the deadbeats are getting evicted. IT’S ABOUT TIME!
If Bob Henson thinks this is so important then he should raise the money to support it. I’m sure he has lots of rich friends.
The key concept someone needs to understand is that the Kansas Sports Hall of Fame will never be a destination venue.
It’d be a nice thing to have a state-of-the-art display that celebrates Glenn Cunningham and (gag) Jim Ryun’s career and Barry Sanders and Lynnette Woodard and Al Oerter and John Riggins and Wilt Chamberlain….
But few are going to go to that place for those reasons. And no one’s gonna go there just to see old newspaper clippings.
The best use of taxpayer money would be to carefully archive all the memorabilia and work for innovative presentations. For instance, instead of a “hall” treat it like a mall; put displays at rest stops on the Turnpike, along I-70… places where people already stop and might get interested in stopping at another next time through.
It has seemed to me that there are college and university Halls of Fame that have, for the most part, captured the market on this type of thing.
From a purely “native son” perspective, why would there be anything in a Kansas Sports Hall of Fame about Wilt Chamberlain? He was not a Kansas native; rather, he traveled from Philadelphia, PA, to play basketball at the University of Kansas (and there is a nice display at the Booth Family Hall of Fame at KU concerning his career at KU).
Sometimes, it has been my impression that the sole criterion for inclusion within the Kansas Sporta Hall of Fame was that the athlete in question was once a passenger on an airplane that made a forced landing in Wichita.
How riveting! I’m absolutely looking forward to reading more from you.