College Football Hall of Fame damaged in Atlanta protests

College Football Hall of Fame damaged in Atlanta protests

SeattlePI.com

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ATLANTA (AP) — The College Football Hall of Fame is boarded up and assessing damage from a destructive night of protests in downtown Atlanta.

The facility’s most valuable trophies and artifacts were moved to a secure facility in case additional trouble breaks out amid nationwide unrest over the death in Minneapolis of a handcuffed black man who pleaded to police that he could not breathe.

Kimberly Beaudin, the hall’s chief executive director, said Sunday that the extensive glass facade of the nearly 95,000-square-foot building was shattered Friday night. Rioters also broke into the street-level gift shop, stole merchandise and left it “pretty trashed,” she added.

But, other than some broken glass that fell into a large exhibition area shaped like a football field, the interior of the hall was not breached by the protesters.

“All of it can repaired. All of it can be recovered. All of the merchandise can be replaced,” Beaudin told The Associated Press. “We’re very thankful.”

Previously located in South Bend, Indiana, the Hall of Fame opened a new $68.5 million facility in Atlanta in 2014, taking a prime spot adjacent to the Georgia World Congress Center and right across the street from Centennial Olympic Park.

It is part of a hub of downtown tourist attractions that also includes the Georgia Aquarium, the World of Coca-Cola, CNN Center, the National Center for Civil and Human Rights, and a giant Ferris wheel.

That area became the epicenter of Atlanta’s protests over the death of George Floyd. Thousands of people jammed the streets, clashing with police and damaging businesses.

The Hall of Fame had been making plans to reopen after shutting down in mid-March because of the coronavirus pandemic. Beaudin said those plans likely will be pushed back...

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