After nearly 18 months of construction, the new home of the College Football Hall of Fame will open tomorrow, Saturday, August 23. To celebrate, the CFHF and Chick-fil-A Fan Experience will host the “Ultimate Tailgate” from 9am to noon this Saturday in conjunction with its Grand Opening.
This Ultimate Tailgate will have it all: ESPN College Game Day bus, a free kid’s football clinic by Kids and Pros, a live broadcast from 680 The Fan, kids activities, a live DJ, the Clark Atlanta drum line, games, and more! No tickets are needed for the Tailgate but you’ll need them to experience the CFHF. You can find those here TICKETS
Mayor Kasim Reed will officiate the opening, along with a host of College Football Hall of Famers like: Steve Bartkowski, Kevin Butler, Charlie Flowers, Rich Glover, Joe Hamilton, Randy Rhino, Art Shell, and more!
As far as the Hall itself, its perched on a custom-formed concrete “Y” column, the football-shaped rotunda sits atop the entrance, providing views into and out of the Hall. The attraction consists of multiple galleries, culminating with the Hall of Fame shrine on the third floor.
These galleries will include interactive exhibits that include a 52-foot touchscreen wall and an RFID-enabled, multi-touch system that allows fans to interact with videos and images specific to their favorite college football teams. These personalized touch points begin as soon as visitors enter, when their college football team’s helmet will light up on the 55-foot-wide, 29-foot high entry wall.
Anchoring the exhibit spaces is a 45-yard turf field for interactive play and special events. The Hall was designed to host events for up to 1,200 people. The street level also features retail and restaurant space (info on behalf of the amazing team at TVS Design).
If you plan on visiting this Saturday for the Grand Opening we (as well as the Hall) STRONGLY suggest taking Marta and arriving early. Here’s the best part about Saturday; Go and visit this AMAZING facility (which we’ll post pictures of from Media Day) during the day and stay for the Falcons game (around the corner) in the evening. A double-whammy for the day and a full-days worth of events!
It’s very clear that football season is upon us! Georgia State will kickoff the College Football Season next week and NFL preseason is almost finished. Before we finish we’d like to thank Atlanta Hall Management, all the Hall of Famers for talking with us, Marcus Margerum, and Frederick Taylor.
You can see more pictures on our FACEBOOK PAGE
See you this weekend!
-TPR
Photo: Hakim Wright