Fundraising Underway For Long-Awaited Philadelphia Sports Museum
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Fundraising is underway for a Philadelphia sports museum in South Philadelphia.
Original trunks from the 1971 Frazier-Ali fight. Jackie Robinson's first minor league contract. Some of the most valuable sports memorabilia on earth was on display next to pallets of cocoa beans in the unheated Jetro warehouse next to Lincoln Financial Field.
Organizers gathered there to herald plans for the Museum of Sports, scheduled to open in the spring of 2019. Much of the memorabilia is from the vast collection of South Jersey cardiologist Nick DePace.
"Philadelphia deserves it, right in the seat here with all the stadiums," he said. "Philadelphia is the center of the sports universe, I believe."
Former governor Ed Rendell is heading up the fundraising.
"This is the city that lives and dies with its teams," he said.
He hinted he would seek a state grant to help fundraising, which is about a quarter of the way toward its $8 million goal.