CLEVELAND — On a sunny September day, the North Coast 30 years ago was packed for the opening of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum. There was the ceremonial opening on Sept. 1, followed by the opening to the public 30 years ago today on Sept. 2.
The tickets were sold out on that day as people flocked from all over the world to be a part of history. They were the first of the roughly 15 million visitors that would follow in their footsteps.
"We're celebrating being here for 30 years, but the reason that we're here is because of the people of Northeast Ohio," said Rock Hall President and CEO Greg Harris. "They rallied together, they stacked the vote, they put the dollars up, they really got behind this project, and their vision helped make this happen."
Cleveland raised eyebrows in their 1980s bid for the Hall when they pledged to put up $65 million of the Hall's $92 million construction cost, an amount no other city was willing to offer. The return on that investment three decades later?
"This place has returned to this region over the last 30 years $2.3 billion in economic impact," Haris said. "And it translates to $200 million every year now."
The Rock Hall sees around a half million visitors a year, but the key is the fact that 80% of them are from out of town, bringing in and spending an average of $349,000 a day. Folks like the Calabreses of Fort Lauderdale, who told News 5 Tuesday they were visiting folks in Rochester, New York.
"My wife says, well, let's go over to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, I've never been here, so it's a treat for me, and it was really fun coming here," said Bill Calabrese.
He came by car for his first visit to Cleveland, Liz Muro from Texas came by boat, one of the many cruise ship visitors each summer.
"Oh, I loved it and I saw all of the artists when I was little that I used to listen to on the radio," she said. "It was great."
And come back in another year or two, there will be much more to see as the Hall prepares for the next 30 years with this 50,000 square foot addition, expanding its footprint here by roughly a third.
"The big building will be done toward the end of next summer, and then we're going to redo our main exhibition hall inside the pyramid itself," said Harris. "So look for a massive unveiling when all that stuff comes together."
But it was the unveiling three decades ago that they celebrate this day, one that continues to bring not only visitors and dollars to Cleveland but the sense of pride that goes along with being the home of Rock and Roll.
