About the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum

The new $37 million Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, set to open in 2001, is shaping up as the cultural and architectural crown jewel of Nashville's downtown redevelopment.

Designed by Nashville's Tuck Hinton Architects, the new 136,000-square-foot limestone, glass, and painted brick edifice will be located at Fifth Avenue South and Demonbreum St., across from the Nashville Arena and near the Ryman Auditorium.

A total of 40,000-square-feet of exhibit space on two floors, representing more than three times the current exhibit space, will be devoted to new high-tech exhibits illustrating the important contributions of country music to America from the down of this century to the present day. Public areas will also include a 7,000-square-foot conservatory and a 200-seat theater.

Ralph Appelbaum Associates, whose clients have included the United State Holocaust Memorial Museum, the Ellis Island Immigration Museum, and New York City's Museum of Natural History, is the exhibit designer. American Constructors, Inc., the general contractor, broke ground for the new facility in May 1999.

Funding for the new building is coming from multiple sources including a $15 million capital campaign, "Bringing America's Music Home." Under the leadership of E. W. "Bud" Wendell, the capital campaign total now exceeds $12 million. The most recent major contribution came when the city allocated $2 million for the new museum. As in most capital campaigns, the majority of the $12 million total has come from major donors such as Mike Curb, the Country Music Association, the Frist Foundation, Gaylord Entertainment, and Dollar General Corporation, and included significant contributions from record labels and other entertainment industry businesses.

More than 50 artists who have contributed to the story of country music have also contributed to the capital campaign. These include Rhett Akins, Eddy Arnold, Clint Black, BR-549, Brooks and Dunn, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Deana Carter, Terri Clark, Billy Ray Cyrus, Diamond Rio, Little Jimmy Dickens, Dixie Chicks, Vince Gill, Nanci Griffith, Emmylou Harris, Wade Hayes, Faith Hill, George Jones, Wynonna Judd, Sammy Kershaw, Hal Ketchum, Frank "Pee Wee" King, Patty Loveless, Loretta Lynn, Kathy Mattea, Mindy McCready, Reba McEntire, Tim McGraw, John Michael Montgomery, Montgomery Gentry, Lorrie Morgan, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Lee Roy Parnell, Johnny Paycheck, family of Eddie Rabbitt, Collin Raye, Kenny Rogers, Dave Rowland, Randy Scruggs, Jason Sellers, Marty Stuart, Hank Thompson, Pam Tillis, Rick Trevino, Travis Tritt, Clay Walker, estate of Keith Whitley, The Wilkinsons, Lee Ann Womack, and Trisha Yearwood.

Accredited by the American Association of Museums and called "a Mecca with a mission" by the Wall Street Journal, the Country Music Hall of Fame is the largest research center in the world dedicated to a single form of American music. Currently open on Nashville's famed Music Row, the Hall of Fame also operates two historic sites, Studio B and Hatch Show Print.

The Hall of Fame has a full time staff of 25, divided among museum, library, education, research, marketing, special projects and administrative services. The Museum serves more than 20,000 students each year with free educational programs, and assists hundreds of journalists, educators, music industry professionals, and researchers by providing access to their extensive library and archival holdings.

For more information, call (615) 256-1639

The New Country Music Hall of Fame Website

The vast historical resources of the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum can now be accessed by country music fans around the world through country.com.

The site, which can be accessed at www.halloffame.org, went online on June 16, 1999.

Highlights of the content to be showcased on the site include biographies and photos of all 69 Hall of Fame members, articles from the prestigious Journal of Country Music, a multimedia archive featuring vintage audio and video clips, Hall of Fame exhibit displays, and a tour of Music Row and much more.

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