The front entrance and lobby of the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame in Jackson could see improvements funded by $3.5 million from the Legislature.
On the drawing board is a redesign of the front lobby so the ticket booth and gift shop are more prominent and enhancements to the exterior of the front entrance, said Bill Blackwell, executive director of the museum that is located at 1152 Lakeland Drive.
Some areas of the building that have not been updated since it opened in 1996 would receive new carpet and a coat of paint and the restrooms would undergo renovations, he said.
Wier Boerner Allin Architecture is involved in the plans, Blackwell said.
The Legislature allocated $2.5 million during the 2022 session for the museum that celebrates Mississippi’s world-class athletes and another $1 million as part of a bond bill in 2020, which will provide a total of $3.5 million for the upgrades.
The bill providing funding from the 2022 session awaits the signature of the governor to make it law, Blackwell said.
The city of Jackson donated the land that the museum sits on and the state of Mississippi owns the building that houses the museum.
The state Department of Finance and Administration will oversee the funds and improvements, Blackwell said. “It all has to be approved by DFA,” he said.
The nonprofit Mississippi Sports Foundation established in June 1992 operates the museum and is responsible for raising funds to keep it open. The museum’s annual budget of $750,000 is derived from partnerships with private and public sources and fundraisers.
Before the onset of the global coronavirus pandemic, the museum drew an annual attendance of 30,000 to 40,000, Blackwell said. School groups and rentals of the building accounted for about 75 percent of that, Blackwell said.
During the last two months, attendance has been close to what it was before the pandemic, he said.
The museum features Mississippi sports legends such as Jake Gibbs, Bailey Howell and Dizzy Dean in a modern, hands-on format that children can relate to and learn from.
“People my age think everybody knows about Walter Payton, Steve McNair and Brett Favre, but kids don’t know about them,” Blackwell said.
The Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame is open from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. Monday through Saturday. Admission is $5 for adults ages 18 and older and $3.50 for seniors ages 60 and older; students ages 6-17, and active members of the military with I.D. Children ages five and younger are admitted for free.
