Ala. Music Hall Of Fame Board Looking For Options

Board members told the TimesDaily of Florence that they’re considering four options to support the museum which has been closed since November.

The first option is to combine the attraction with an official state welcome center.

The Colbert County Tourism Board has proposed transferring part of the attraction’s property to the state Department of Transportation for use as the welcome center.

The group sent that proposal to Gov. Robert Bentley and would like to discuss the idea with him in person, the board’s Vice President David Black said.

State Tourism Director Lee Sentell said he wasn’t aware of his office having been contacted about the proposal, and that his office is already staffing eight welcome centers along the state’s borders with Georgia, Tennessee, Mississippi and Florida.

Former state Sen. Bobby Denton has voiced displeasure with the idea, saying the building was intended to be used as a museum – not a welcome center.

“A welcome center is where motorists go to the rest room and walk around to give themselves a break from driving,” he told the newspaper. “I applaud people wanting to get a welcome center here, but we need to let the Alabama Music Hall of Fame be the Alabama Music Hall of Fame.”

The second option is to divvy up the memorabilia and distribute it throughout the state.

The hall of fame’s board president Rodney Hall said the state could create a “music trail” by spreading the memorabilia to several buildings throughout Alabama. Potential sites could include Huntsville and Birmingham’s downtown entertainment district, Hall said.

“Tommy Williams of WorkPlay and I have talked about putting something in their facility that focuses on the Birmingham sector of the hall of fame,” Hall said.

The third option is to leave the museum in Tuscumbia.

County tourism director Susann Hamlin told the newspaper Tuscumbia is the best place for the Alabama Music Hall of Fame because music fans around the world know the Shoals area is the most recognizable part of the state’s contribution to the music industry.

Hamlin pointed out that the building – which opened in 1990 – is already paid for, but board member Buel Springer said the attraction should be moved to a busier area if it stays in the Shoals region.

“You don’t draw a tremendous crowd to a facility sitting way out in the country alone,” Springer said. “You’ve got to have this feeling of closeness. Just put it some place where there’s other people all the time.”

The fourth possibility is to invite proposals from other cities to relocate the museum and hall of fame. Hall said thus far, officials in Huntsville, Birmingham, Montgomery, Foley and Gulf Shores have shown interest in relocating the attraction.

The Alabama Music Hall of Fame has struggled financially since the state stopped funding it in 2011, and the attraction faces an approximate $120,000 debt.

A posting on the attraction’s website says the museum is closed until further notice because of a lack of funding, and potential visitors should contact state legislators and ask them to reopen it.