THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, August 20, 1995 TAG: 9508170150
SECTION: PORTSMOUTH CURRENTS PAGE: 02 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: Ida Kay's Portsmouth
SOURCE: Ida Kay Jordan
LENGTH: Medium: 74 lines
The retirement of Herb Simpson as director of the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame coincidentally comes at a time when the sports museum on High Street is getting ready for another expansion.
Before the board hires a new director, who will oversee that expansion, the museum's supporters should do some planning, decide what they want the Hall of Fame to become and set about looking for a director who can make it happen.
Since the museum opened in 1977, nobody could have been more dedicated than Simpson to making the project go. To honor his tenacity and work, the board now must plan to take the Hall of Fame into the 21st century with new energy and new ideas.
Simpson and his colleagues didn't take too kindly to my suggestion some years ago that the Hall of Fame should be more exciting. That was when the city gave the museum additional space the last time.
I suggested the museum install a couple of video machines. I still believe they could acquire action film clips from the universities and other organizations showing the Hall of Fame's members in action. The theory was that sports fans would drop quarters into the machines over and over to watch their sports idols.
At the time I wrote that column, then Portsmouth Editor Sam Barnes agreed that he would love to spend his lunch hours watching UVa's Ralph Sampson slam dunking over and over.
Or they could do some timed slide programs that would project the athletes in action shots at the same time taped interviews played. Or voices of others who knew them could be used.
Another possibility would be special exhibits, highlighting one sport at the time. I understand that video histories of various sports already are available. Why not use video to teach youngsters about sports and also show them what the equipment of the past looked like?
In addition, there are artists in this country to specialize in sports drawings and paintings. Why not work with the city museums to feature some of these artists in the galleries next door to the Hall of Fame?
To raise money, the Sports Hall of Fame could stage World Series, Super Bowl and Kentucky Derby parties. A series of parties could produce money to do some of the things that could make the museum come alive.
With the right additions, the Sports Hall of Fame could expand its audience to young people very quickly because of the immense popularity of the Children's Museum of Virginia with families from other cities. Usually, every family has at least one sports fan - and by promoting activities of the two museums together, both could benefit.
The Sports Hall of Fame must have something more to promote than its static exhibits. The showcases of memorabilia from the inductees are interesting on the first visit, but they do not give people much reason to come back a second or third time.
Dean Ehlers, the organization's president, was quoted in a news story Wednesday as saying he wants to raise the visibility of the Hall of Fame and to ``attract younger patrons.''
To do that, the board must make the museum come alive.
The board needs to think of hiring a museum professional with some background in development if it expects to make the Hall of Fame an important place for the general public.
The museum has been open 18 years now. It's time to move it from being a sort of private club for people intensely interested in Virginia sports figures.
The volunteer board and long-time supporters should continue to do what they do best - elect new inductees and stage a ceremony each year to induct them, collect memorabilia and money for the museum and generally whomp up support for it.
But they need a paid museum professional to create exhibits to attract young people and others who may have merely a passing interest in sports. by CNB