Macon’s Georgia Music Hall of Fame to shut down

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• The Georgia Music Hall of Fame

As we reported earlier, the Macon Telegraph broke the news that the state of Georgia will be shutting down Macon’s Georgia Music Hall of Fame on June 12. Despite its decline as a cultural center in recent years, Macon has at one time been home to some of Georgia’s most recognizable musicians, including the Allman Brothers and Otis Redding.

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Naturally, Macon’s rich musical history felt like a perfect fit for the museum, which currently archives memorabilia from artists as diverse as the B-52s, Ludacris, Johnny Mercer and Ray Charles. Unfortunately, a large overhead cost and dwindling interest in the museum led to a lack of funds that finally closed the museum after 15 years in Macon.

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Dunwoody, Woodstock and Athens all lobbied to host the museum, but were turned down by the board of advisors. In one of the last efforts to save the museum from its closure, local developer NewTown Macon’s offered $800,000 to keep the museum afloat. However, the museum’s state caretakers felt that it simply couldn’t sustain itself much longer, even with the temporary help of NewTown Macon.

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Despite the various bids by other cities and private organizations, many on the museum’s advisory board were dead-set on closing the museum, believing that no amount of financial support could make it a viable tourism center.

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Board vice-chairman Rob Gibson commented to Macon’s 13WMAZ, “This thing is not a tourist destination. It’s not ever been. It has no real artistic, aesthetic vision and conception behind it other than its name.”

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Now, rather than funding the museum, NewTown will instead focus on restoring the former building of defunct record label Capricorn Records as a monument to Macon’s musical heritage.

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After the museum closes, its memorabilia will be divided up between the university of Georgia, Georgia State University and the University of West Georgia.

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If you’re still interested in checking out museums in the Macon area, the Big House museum, former home of the Allman Brothers, remains open to the public.