Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame ushers in new era
Long before he entered politics, Mick Cornett hatched a dream. An Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame. That was 1986. Thirty-two years ago.
Tuesday, that Hall of Fame and that man began new eras.
Cornett became a full-time campaigner for the governor’s mansion— David Holt was sworn in as Oklahoma City’s mayor after Cornett’s 14 years of leading the city— and the Hall of Fame officially opened at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark.
“No one had heard of MAPS” back in 1986, Cornett said of the time when he helped launch the Hall of Fame, referring to the sales-tax initiative that has launched an Oklahoma City renaissance. “And here we are, a generation later, in a MAPS facility.”
The Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame hadn’t had its own home until 2009, when it took over a building on North Lincoln Boulevard after starting in the State Museum of History.
The move to Bricktown required some condensing of the Hall of Fame’s vast memorabilia. But that was a compromise in moving to such a pristine location.
“This place is really special, because this place showcases Oklahoma,” said Mike Carrier, president of the OKC Convention & Visitor Bureau.
The front of the exhibit space is dedicated to Jim Thorpe; the huge statue of Thorpe that resided out front of the Lincoln Boulevard location now sits in front of the ballpark location. The museum is housed on the second floor of the ballpark, in the old Coach’s restaurant location. The Jim Thorpe Award winners are displayed next, then a variety of exhibits hail the hall of famers, from Mickey Mantle to Henry Iba, from Shannon Miller to John Smith. The Hall now includes 171 inductees.
Artifacts make a museum, and the Hall of Fame has treasures galore, from Joe Washington’s silver shoes to Sean O’Grady’s boxing trunks to Big Country’s letter jacket to the Waner brothers’ baseball gloves.
And now more people will see it. The Hall of Fame is open Tuesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
“It goes without saying, this is a fabulous facility,” said Holt, the new mayor. “It’s going to get so much more traffic here.”
The venture was a partnership of the Hall of Fame; the Chickasaw Nation, which has been a Hall of Fame sponsor for years; and the Oklahoma City Dodgers, who manage the ballpark.
“It made all the sense in the world. It’s hard for a Giants fan to thank the Dodgers,” said Cornett, a long-time San Francisco baseball loyalist, “but you still need a quality landlord. For the Dodgers to be such a willing partner…”
Hall of Fame executive director Mike James also thanked his predecessor, Eddie Griffin, who now is the athletic director at the University of Central Oklahoma.
“Eddie worked tirelessly to find a new home for us,” James said. “If it wasn’t for Eddie Griffin and our partners from the Chickasaw Nation, none of this would have been possible.”
The new location means the Hall of Fame offers free admission and means that many more Oklahomans can enjoy their state’s sports history.