By Vytas Mazeika
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
The UCLA Athletics Hall of Fame reopened last week in the east
wing of the J.D. Morgan Intercollegiate Athletics Center after
renovations aimed to enhance the experience of patrons.
The new reception area contains a video wall with monitors which
air great moments in Bruin sports history and current sporting
events. The Bruin Spirit Theater down the hall can play several
UCLA championship moments in a stadium environment.
To the right is the Hall of Champions, where all 86 national
championship trophies are encased. Behind that are display cases
for every sport, including interactive display screens and tributes
to Bruin greats like John Wooden and Jackie Robinson.
Part of an expansion project that last year saw the Morgan
Center increase in size by about 70,000 square feet to accommodate
the new administration building, the Hall of Fame expansion cost
more than $1 million, all of it fund-raised, while it increased in
size from 4,000 to 8,000 square feet.
Arland Kelly, enrolled in the UCLA basketball summer camp and
visiting campus and the Hall of Fame with his coach Deno Anderson,
was not surprised after being told of the cost of the expansion
project.
“I believe it” Kelly said. “I love sports and
this is just awesome.”
Though it’s not finished, Ken Weiner, UCLA associate
athletics director in charge of business operations, promises that
the new Hall of Fame will not be like the old one.
According to Weiner, the old Hall of Fame was rarely updated but
that will change with new exhibitions and updated options on
interactive menus every six months to a year.
“The Hall of Fame will always be a work in progress, which
is an important thing because the old Hall of Fame was very static
and two-dimensional,” Weiner said. “That’s not
what we wanted this one to be. Now it’s much more
three-dimensional ““ much more dynamic”
The Hall of Fame was mostly completed by mid-June when a gala
opening was held for the donors, which led Weiner to decide to open
the Hall of Fame to the public. This way Weiner and his staff could
get feedback.
Weiner and Kevin Borg, facilities director and project manager
for intercollegiate athletics, each visited 10 to 12 halls of fame
in three days when researching ideas. Included in their trip was
the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the Baseball Hall of Fame and the
Notre Dame Hall of Fame. Coaches also gave input on their specific
sports.
Weiner’s vision was to turn the first few exhibits into
people-oriented experiences while maintaining the historic appeal
of the memorabilia-heavy sections in the Hall of Fame.
“The philosophy that I put in (the entrance) is that
it’s not in-your-face athletics,” Weiner said.
“And then we really kept the Hall of Champions as sort of a
sacred room. All that happens in there is everything about our
program.”
The more traffic the Hall of Fame receives, the more people will
want to get involved, Weiner said. With summer exposure, he hopes
to develop a docent program where volunteers will be available to
answer questions, escort people, and do special tours.
“We’ve already had people who have gone through and
said, “˜Oh, you know, I have an old 1940s football uniform
that you might be interested in’ and I said “˜Heck yeah
I would,'” Weiner said. “That’s how
hopefully it is going to grow.”
The Hall of Fame is open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5
p.m. It will also be open before men’s basketball home games.
No admission is charged.
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 SOURCE: UCLA Sports Info Original graphic by JOAN
ONG/Daily Bruin Senior Staff Web adaptation by CHRISTINE TAN/Daily
Bruin Senior Staff