CLEVELAND — On June 7, 1993 they gathered in a cleared spot at the water's edge at the end of East 9th Street, hard hats and shovels in hand to break ground on the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. On hand that day was rock royalty: Chuck Berry, Billy Joel and Pete Townshend of the Who.
"It's a great day I think for this, groundbreaking," Townshend said. "We're breaking ground, it's fun, I'm happy about it."
Cleveland raised eyebrows back then when they pledged to put up $65 million of the hall's $92 million construction cost. The return on that investment?
"Since we opened our doors our economic impact to this region has been over $2 billion," said Rock Hall President and CEO Greg Harris. "It was a smart bet and the city's had this jewell for the last 28 years."
That economic impact is generated by a half million visitors a year, more than 80% of whom come to Cleveland from out of town — many for the first time, like the Willinghams of Nashville. They're here for three days and two nights to see the Rock Hall and the rest of the city.
"This is one of my major bucket lists," said Hugh Willingham.
Studies show visitors to the Hall spend an average of $349,000 a day at our hotels, restaurants and shops — numbers enhanced this summer by the 55 cruise ships coming to the nearby Port of Cleveland, bringing folks like the Robinsons of Florida, who arrived Wednesday morning on one. The Rock Hall is a must-see excursion.
"I think that was one of the highlights that people bought," said Jim Robinson.
Beyond the financial aspect, the Rock Hall helped to change the perception of Cleveland over the last three decades — 30 years ago it was still associated with fires on the river or 10-cent beer night.
"All of us that travel, when you tell people you're from Cleveland they immediately say Rock and Roll Hall of Fame," said Harris who added that having the 30th anniversary of the groundbreaking this year is fitting. "Because we're going to be breaking ground real soon on an expansion and that's for the next 30 years."
A $100 million addition adding 50,000 square feet of space, coupled with a pedestrian bridge over the shoreway will only add to the draw of the North Coast and the connectivity to the city beyond.
"This expansion's going to carry us into the future," Harris said. "It's going to serve us well for the next 14 million visitors and we're excited to be doing it."
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