Teelander, as I posted in another thread:
Here's what I found on
http://www.conciergepreferred.com/chica ... ctions.htm:
Chicago sports fans will find a lot to look at and interact with at the Chicagoland Sports Hall of Fame (1150 N. River Rd., Des Plaines, 847-294-1700) located on the campus of Maryville Academy. The Hall of Fame features sports memorabilia honoring more than 300 area athletes, schools and professional teams; eight interactive touch-screen video kiosks featuring a sports trivia game, sports writers discussing favorite sports moments, biographies and statistics of inductees, and more.
And an article!
Local sports hall of fame may dock at Navy Pier
Chicago Sun-Times, Feb 18, 2004 by David Roeder
Since 1996, the Chicagoland Sports Hall of Fame has sat at Maryville Academy in Des Plaines, so ignored that it can't charge admission. But you'd think champion-deprived Chicagoans would pay to see Bobby Hull's hockey stick, Minnie Minoso's jersey and a 2,200- pound statue of Walter Payton, so the museum is considering a relocation where it will get more traffic.
A lot more. As in Navy Pier, which annually draws more than 8 million people. If 1 percent of them hit the museum, attendance will grow 80 times from what it typically gets in a year at Maryville.
"We are meeting with Navy Pier officials next week," said Bill Watson, who runs the museum for Maryville. "We have signed nothing with them yet." He said the museum needs to move where it can charge for admission and gain visibility. The museum "is not easy to find and we can't spend money to promote it," he said.
It's looking at about 2,500 square feet. The terrace in Festival Hall is one possibility, said Billy Weinberg, spokesman for the state- city authority that runs Navy Pier. But Weinberg emphasized that talks are in very early stages.
The Sun-Times has documented that the museum owes about $750,000 to Maryville, which had planned on the attraction being a revenue producer. Moving to Chicago's top tourist location may be the only way to chip away at that debt. Currently, the museum's annual induction ceremony is its only source of cash.