An empty church and a vacant lot in downtown Elizabethtown could become the permanent home for the Kentucky High School Basketball Hall of Fame.
Fundraising efforts are in full swing and detailed plans for the building are expected to be revealed next month. Former high school and college basketball coach Mike Pollio says Elizabethtown is the perfect size for the Hall of Fame.
“Indiana high school basketball found out. They put it in Indianapolis and nobody came,” said Pollio. “They put it in Newcastle, Ind. and they’re doing great.”
Pollio says they’re planning to honor the past, but also create a learning environment for today’s young basketball players.
“I think more than anything else this is about people and about teaching what basketball coaches teach, which is respect, discipline and sportsmanship,” said Pollio. “All of those things – that’s what this museum is going to be. This isn’t your granddaddy’s museum. This isn’t going to be a lot of stuff.”
The Kentucky High School Basketball Hall of Fame has several inductees, but there’s currently no brick-and-mortar facility. The cost of the building is expected to be $3-4 million dollars. Organizers hope to have both phases of construction complete by 2018, the 100th anniversary of high school basketball in the Bluegrass State.
