
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, March 4, 1992                   TAG: 9203030246
SECTION: EXTRA                    PAGE: E-2   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: CLEVELAND                                LENGTH: Short

ROCK AND ROLL MUSEUM IS DELAYED BY RECESSION

Construction of the long-delayed Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum is being pushed back another year while organizers woo recession-wary sponsors, project managers said last week.

William Hulett, co-chairman of the hall's board of directors, said groundbreaking was postponed until summer 1993 after the hall's New York-based parent organization decided organizers in Cleveland would have to find $25 million to $35 million in corporate sponsorships.

The parent organization, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation, had been unable to find the sponsors itself, so it gave the responsibility to the Cleveland organizers, who have a larger staff, Hulett said.

Because of the recession, organizers expect to have trouble finding the money right away, Hulett said. Companies such as General Motors are typically the first ones contacted for sponsorships, "but right now, I suspect they've got another agenda," he said.

When Cleveland was selected as the site for the hall in 1986, plans called for completion as early as 1988. But site changes and funding questions intervened.

Michael Benz, appointed Friday as the museum's new director, said he was confident the delays and money problems wouldn't affect the search for additional sponsors.

"I think it's there, I think the market's there," Benz said. "Sure, we're going to slow down right now, but I really would not take it [the job] if I didn't think it was a worthwhile project that sponsors will get a big value out of."

by CNB