The Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio, is a pretty special place if you’re an NFL fan. People make pilgrimages from all over the country to pay homage to their favorite players and legends of the game. It’s also a great place to learn about the history of the game.
Or so I’ve been told.
You see, despite growing up less than a half hour away, I’m ashamed to say that I’ve never actually been inside.
Sure I’ve driven by it dozens and dozens of times, often on the way to watch my high school sports teams play regional tournament games at the nearby Canton Memorial Fieldhouse. Or more recently, to fly out of the super convenient Akron-Canton Airport.
Now, truth be told, I always thought that the museum seemed liked it was sort of crammed in between I-77 and Fawcett Stadium, almost like it was an afterthought. So I was pleasantly surprised to read about the plans for a new campus to be called the Johnson Controls Hall of Fame Village, which is supposed to be the first ever sports and entertainment “smart city.” It sounds pretty impressive.
One of the key features of the HOF campus, of course, will be a new 4-star football-themed upscale hotel.
Pro Football Hall of Fame hotel to be a Curio by Hilton
Curio Collection hotels tend to be some of Hilton’s more boutique properties that can have a style of their own. Given that this will be a one-of-a-kind football themed property, it makes a lot of sense for it to slot into the Curio brand.
The hotel, which broke ground last month, will have some pretty impressive amenities. There will be several restaurants including a Shula’s steakhouse — thank goodness it’s not an Elway’s — a farm-to-table restaurant, and a lounge in the lobby. And a 25,000 square foot conference center.
From the looks of the concept pictures on Cleveland.com, the lobby will feature football yard lines on the floors, class football photos on the walls, and of course motivational slogans on the walls like you might find in the tunnel on your way to the locker room. In other words, it seems like it will be a fairly consistent experience as you move from the newly renovated Tom Benson HOF Stadium (sorry, I’ll probably still call it Fawcett Stadium), to the museum, and over to the hotel.
Pro Football Hall of Fame hotel, a Curio by Hilton (photo from Cleveland.com)
The hotel will have 243 rooms and is supposed to open in the summer of 2019 as part of the 107-acre, $600 million complex. No word yet on how many suites it will have or what the upgrade possibilities will be like for this lowly Hilton Gold…
Johnson Controls Pro Football Hall of Fame Village (photo from Cleveland.com)
Bottom line
The new Curio by Hilton at the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton looks pretty awesome. I’m glad to see northeast Ohio getting another great attraction. I’ll be excited to check out the hotel when it finally opens and perhaps make my first visit to the HOF itself.
Are you excited about the new Curio by Hilton at the Pro Football Hall of Fame?
Bin is typical of true snowflakes.
He uses the term to disparage others while whining.
Whiners are snowflakes, darling.
Strange to see a football-related thread on a blog followed by queens.
If it makes you feel better, I've spent pretty much my entire life either living in or within a 2-hour drive of Dallas. Never made it to the JFK Museum, and visited the Grassy Knoll for the first time about 2 years ago. I think we all have a tendency to skip over anything local under the guise of "oh, it's only an hour away, I'll go see it later".
I'm intrigued by the football-themed...
If it makes you feel better, I've spent pretty much my entire life either living in or within a 2-hour drive of Dallas. Never made it to the JFK Museum, and visited the Grassy Knoll for the first time about 2 years ago. I think we all have a tendency to skip over anything local under the guise of "oh, it's only an hour away, I'll go see it later".
I'm intrigued by the football-themed concept. It'll be interesting to see if this eventually expands to some of the other sports halls of fame. BTW, we don't have quite the same level of Elway hate down here, but Shula's makes a fine steak, so I'm sure you'll be pleased.
@Bin - calling someone a "snowflake" is an instant way to identify yourself as a garbage person. Thanks for the shortcut!
Grew up 15 minutes south of there, and now live 30 minutes north. In 38 years I've likely passed it thousands of times, but I've never made it in. Just passed by again today (the new stadium is going to be much larger).
Will be interested in watching the evolution and perhaps the new hotel will help me make my first stop the as well. Thanks for the article!
I live about a 1/2 hour from there and grew about 1 hour away, also have never visited! But I am excited about the expansion and Shula's.
It is only a Shula's because they are waiting on Kyle to retire before expanding Shanahan's Steakhouse. That way they can please the most fan bases.
Travis, I am a born and raised and proud Northeast Ohioan. I'm embarrassed to say that the only time I visited the Hall of Fame is during my senior year in HS when our football team played at Canton McKinley at Fawcett Stadium. I echo your comments on the developments around the Pro football Hall of Fame. I think it'll be great when it's completed.
I still use CAK airport for a lot of...
Travis, I am a born and raised and proud Northeast Ohioan. I'm embarrassed to say that the only time I visited the Hall of Fame is during my senior year in HS when our football team played at Canton McKinley at Fawcett Stadium. I echo your comments on the developments around the Pro football Hall of Fame. I think it'll be great when it's completed.
I still use CAK airport for a lot of my travels. They were recently dealt a large blow though when Southwest moved all of their operations out of Canton Akron to Cleveland. I refuse to fly Spirit. Low fares are important, just not that
thanks for deciding what is "aggressively unnecessary" pursuits for the rest of this 1st world developed nation. You know for a liberal snowflake saying first world implies there is a third world and that term has been deemed "insentive to people of color". Suprised you said something so crude.
I can't support tackle/full contact football...and I'm amazed that it holds on as well as it does in our 1st world developed nation. My Uncle passed away earlier than he should have from complications of some CTE or related illness from playing in the AFL in the early 1960s. We really should be ashamed for continuing to condone such aggressively unnecessary pursuits like football. Just my soapbox...having said that the strategies involved in football are...
I can't support tackle/full contact football...and I'm amazed that it holds on as well as it does in our 1st world developed nation. My Uncle passed away earlier than he should have from complications of some CTE or related illness from playing in the AFL in the early 1960s. We really should be ashamed for continuing to condone such aggressively unnecessary pursuits like football. Just my soapbox...having said that the strategies involved in football are really impressive.
Also grew up about an hour away in Medina and never went there. While Elway's are certainly a way better steak, there's the certain hatred some of us may have with that name in the CLE. Cool concept, maybe this will finally be a reason to go there sometime.