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University of Miami Sports Hall of Fame in jeopardy of closing due to COVID-19 pandemic

CORAL GABLES, Fla. – The University of Miami Sports Hall of Fame has been open on the UM campus in Coral Gables since 1989. The building houses over 5,000 square feet of some of the most unique Miami sports memorabilia collections you’ll see. Unfortunately, the hall of fame now finds itself in a unique position because of the COVID-19 pandemic; uncertain if it can keep those doors open.

The non-profit hall of fame isn’t part of the University of Miami, even though it’s on school property, so they receive no money from the school. They stay afloat by hosting four major events per year to raise funds. Two of those events have been cancelled already this year, and the executive director of the hall of fame, John Routh, says it puts them in a tough spot.

“We normally use our four events during the year to raise funds, but we’re gonna be kind of hurting this year, so we’re asking fans to step up and show their orange and green colors. Hopefully, they can help us out,” Routh said.

Routh helped set up a go fund me page and is selling some of the items that would have been auctioned off during the now cancelled events.

The UM Sports Hall of Fame organization has been around for 52 years. Great athletes from every sport have been inducted over the years, and the hall of fame building is a special place to any Hurricanes fan.

“Literally, you walk into the front door and you see a trophy and a bronzed football from the very first football game in 1926. We have history that goes all the way back to the founding of the university,” Routh explained.

Now the hope is that history gets to be preserved and grown even more.

“This is an amazing piece of history, and we want to be able to keep it for a long time to come,” Routh said.

Fans can help by donating to the go fund me page or buying memorabilia. You can find all the information on the UM sports hall of fame’s website at umsportshalloffame.com.


About the Author
Will Manso headshot

Will Manso came back home to South Florida when he joined Local 10 in March of 1999. During his time here, Will has kept busy by working in sports, news and he's even dabbled in entertainment. He is now Local 10's sports director and also enjoys the chance to serve as host for special shows on Local 10.

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