Florida Sports Hall of Fame

A ribbon-cutting ceremony was held Tuesday at the Polk County Tourism and Sports Marketing building to unveil the Florida Sports Hall of Fame. The Hall of Fame encompasses 2,000-square feet on the first floor of the Sports Marketing building.

The Florida Sports Hall of Fame will officially open to the public on June 29, 2010. The Hall of Fame hours will be 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, and 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday, but only when events are going on at the Lake Myrtle Sports Complex.

Hank Longo, visitor services manager of Outpost 27, was responsible for setting up the Hall of Fame display. Longo not only handles operations at Outpost 27, an arm of Tourism and Sports Marketing, but was the driving force behind the creation of the Hall of Fame.

"It came out the way I visualized it coming together," Longo said. "It's an unbelievable and amazing experience."

County Commissioners Bob English, Ed Smith and Sam Johnson were in attendance along with city commissioners from Auburndale, Winter Haven and Davenport. English, Smith, Rick Dantzler and Doug Sanders made small speeches during the ceremony. Mark Jackson, director of Tourism and Sports Marketing, led the ceremony.

There were several Hall of Fame members in attendance and recognized including top fuel drag racer Don Garlits, race car drivers Bobby and Donnie Allison and former University of Florida physical education professor Ruth Alexander, a trailblazer for women's college sports.

A ceremony was held Tuesday night for the induction of the 2010 Hall of Fame class of Lake Wales native and former World Series MVP Pat Borders, Olympic medalist Catie Ball-Condon, sports columnist for the Gainesville Sun Jack Hairston, who will be inducted posthumously, and professional golfer Hubert Green.

Dantzler, president of the Florida Sports Hall of Fame, said the Lake Myrtle Sports Complex on Berkley Road was the right destination for the Hall of Fame. A big reason the Hall of Fame didn't succeed in Lake City was lack of visitor traffic, Dantzler said.

"This is a perfect fit for Lake Myrtle because of the amount of traffic that will come through here for sporting events," Dantzler said. "What better way to spend a few hours in between games and getting out of the heat than coming in to visit the Florida Sports Hall of Fame."

Dantzler talked about plans for the Hall of Fame, known as Phase II, which expands the facility 8,000 to 10,000-square feet. Expansion plans for Phase II are expected to happen in three or four years, according to Dantzler.

The Hall of Fame was founded in 1961 by the Florida Sportswriters Association and didn't have a home until it opened in 1974 at Cypress Gardens in Winter Haven. It remained at Cypress Gardens until 1986 and relocated to Lake City in 1991. Due to a lack of state funding, the Hall of Fame was closed in 2000.

"Two years ago we stood here in an empty field to break ground on the Lake Myrtle Sports Complex," English said. "This is another dream coming true for Polk County and Lake Myrtle."

Visitors are greeted at the door of the Hall of Fame with a nine-screen display showing highlights of Hall of Fame members. Garlits donated one of his 44 top fuel drag racing cars, which is on display in the front of the building.

The walls are lined with memorabilia from football helmets and jerseys to baseball bats and golf clubs. There are game jerseys including Miami Dolphins quarterback Bob Griese, Florida running back Emmitt Smith and former Boston Celtics' great Dave Cowens, who played basketball at Florida State hanging in glass casings.

"This is a great milestone for Polk County to bring the Florida Sports Hall of Fame to Lake Myrtle," Jackson said.