#2: A Long Beach Sports Hall of Fame

We know what you may be thinking—what about the Century Club Hall of Fame?  Or the Wilson Athletics Hall of Fame?  Or the Poly Football Hall of Fame?  Or the city-run Long Beach Baseball and Softball Hall of Fame?  Or the Millikan Hall of Fame that’s in the works?  Or Lakewood’s Youth Hall of Fame?  Or the Long Beach State Hall of Fame, or the Long Beach City College Alumni Hall of Fame?

Well—that’s kind of the point.  Right now the history of this city and its surrounding areas is scattered, visible only in high school gyms (like Wilson’s) or McDonald’s (like Lakewood’s).  But what if we could bring all these threads of history together, under one roof?  What if when you hosted friends from out of town you could bring them to one building, with one ticket, that housed the Goydos hat, one of Willie McGinest’s Super Bowl rings, an old racket of Billie Jean King’s, and Misty May memorabilia?  Part of the facility could be used for a display about LB’s sports history, a timeline that illustrates how incredible LB athletes have been on the national (and international) scene, as well as highlighting athletes who remain local legends. 

There’s nothing wrong with each high school, college, and organization in the city acting as the shepherds of their own history, but putting all those pieces together would be even better—with the number of national stars we’ve produced, there would even be enough items of general interest that this could become a tourist draw.  We even have a location in mind—the Press Telegram Lofts on Pine are perfect.  The bottom few floors could be used for parking, and the three or four floors above could house the Hall.  It could help with the revitalization of Pine, and finally be a way to put the PT Lofts to positive use, since they’re currently a vacant eyesore.