Future of Georgia Music Hall Remains Uncertain

41 NBC’s Brittany Gonzalez reports the Georgia Music Hall of Fame Authority Board voted this morning to reject all 4 cities’ bids to house the museum.

Board members debated for an hour until unanimously agreeing to vote to close the museum.

Macon’s bid guaranteed funding for at least 3 years, but the Board was not impressed. Mike Dyer, chairman of Halls of Fame, Inc., said he was disappointed in the decision.

“It’s hard for us to swallow this obvious bias on the Authority of the 2 Georgia’s… you know that nothing can be successful outside of Atlanta,” said Dyer.

Macon’s proposal pledged more than $1million a year in revenue. Board members all agreed Macon’s proposal was too optimistic, because it cited an 18% increase in attendance over the next 5 years.

Board member James Gillis IV said, “Given the trends we’ve seen over the past couple of years with our attendance numbers and just the economy in general… that’s a number I feel like could offer a pretty big miss.”

The board will look to effectively close the museum, but is hopeful Macon will foot the bill for a year. The board needs the time to figure out where the museum’s collection will go, because state funding runs out in June.

Dyer said, “While they turned us down..they turned down all proposals, and the door is cracked open for Macon to give us an opportunity for a year to see how we can do.”

The Board will meet again in a month to finalize the plan’s details.