Hall of Fame museum being built in Easton

Written by: David Mika on Tuesday, November 10th, 2009. Follow David Mika on Twitter.

The Associated Press

EASTON — A new national museum honoring excellence in scholastic sports is going up in eastern Pennsylvania, spotlighting the high school exploits of pro superstars like LeBron James but also cheering former top athletes who excelled away from the playing field.

The first-of-its-kind High School Sports Hall of Fame Museum will be built in Easton, a sporting hotbed known nationally for its wrestling programs and for its century-old football rivalry with neighboring Phillipsburg, N.J., Mayor Sal Panto Jr. and museum officials announced Monday.

The $20 million museum will feature inductees who, as high school seniors, both excelled in sports and displayed good character in their schools and communities. Past inductees have included NBA stars James and Dwight Howard, American League batting champ Joe Mauer, and Olympic gold medal swimmer Allyson Felix.

The museum could open by the summer of 2011 and will be operated by the Easton-based National High School Coaches Association, which selects national coaches and athletes of the year in 20 sports. Inductees get the JAIME Award — which stands for Just Athletics Isn’t Meaningful Enough.

“It’s not just about your athletic performance. More importantly, it’s about you being a good person,” said Robert Ferraro Sr., a retired college wrestling coach and chief executive of the coaches association.

The museum plans to promote itself heavily as a field trip destination for elementary, middle and high school students around the Northeast. Nearby is the Crayola Factory, which draws 300,000 visitors a year.

The 20,000-square-foot complex is still being planned but will likely include exhibit space for memorabilia, a holographic theater, a testing and training center for current athletes, an education center for coaches seeking certification, and a “Hall of Achievement” featuring standout prep athletes who went on to attain career success.

“There’s going to be a real powerful, positive message at the end of the day,” Ferraro said.

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