Copyright cleveland.com
CLEVELAND, Ohio – Next year, the Greater Cleveland Sports Hall of Fame will mark 50 years. The celebration to commemorate the half century will start next month, when the hall opens in a physical home on the city’s near west side. The hall will be located at Urban Community School’s Roundstone Athletic Center, 2025 W. 47th St., in Cleveland’s Ohio City neighborhood. Its public unveiling is set to come at the annual induction ceremony on Tuesday, Dec. 2. “It’s been a lot of fun; I learned a lot,” said Tom Hablitzel, a former Sherwin-Williams executive who sits on the hall of fame’s executive board. He’s been instrumental in researching the scores of individuals who have been inducted over the years. “We’re in the eighth inning now, cranking out the display cases, getting the artifacts,” he said. Related: Greater Cleveland Sports Hall of Fame announces 2025 inductees Hablitzel said he and fellow organizers “dug into the history” to curate a tasteful, inclusive and approachable hall of fame to commemorate athletes who made a mark on the region in a variety of sports and eras. “When someone walks in the door, there’s 540 inductees and 2,000 square feet. We want ’em to look around and say ‘Everyone’s here,’” he said. The hall of fame, Hablitzel said, “is just the beginning. We want people to come, kids to come and get involved. We want our inductees to come and teach and be engaged with kids. This is kind of the beginning in many ways.” The hall honors many recognizable individuals like Carol Heiss Jenkins, royalty in the pantheon of figure skating and who was inducted in 2001. She stopped by the hall on a recent day to donate artifacts from her stellar career. Heiss Jenkins won a silver medal at the 1956 Olympics and a gold in 1960. “I’m willing to give everything but the Olympic gold medal,” laughed Heiss Jenkins, whose husband Hayes Jenkins also was inducted for figure skating. But maybe more importantly, it also shines a spotlight on folks who might not be household names but who left incredible marks on fields and courts across Greater Cleveland. Displays will include a box of Wheaties cereal featuring Jack Trice, a Hiram-born, East Tech High School graduate who went to Iowa State University and was killed as a result of racial violence on the gridiron. Iowa State’s football stadium is the only one in Division I to be named after a Black man. Related: Only 1 Division I football stadium is named after a Black man, and he’s from Cleveland Elmer Gedeon played football at Michigan with the legendary Tom Harmon. He was one of two Major Leaguers killed in World War II. Johnny Kilbane, the great Cleveland boxer and dynastic champion, is part of the hall. Jamie Milkovich is donating a full Maple Heights High School wrestling uniform. Milkovich was a longtime coach who retired in 2024. Many of the inductees broke barriers: J. Elmer Reed helped integrate bowling. Marion Motley and Bill Wills were the first Black players on the Browns. Renee Powell was the second African American to compete on the LPGA Tour and the first African American woman to become a member of the PGA. “Story after story after story are stacked up here,” Hablitzel said. It’s more than just a few artifacts and list of names. Interactive components will keep fans tuned in. A “You Make the Call” booth will offer visitors a chance to choose one of eight plays, listen to the original call by a Cleveland broadcaster and record their own. Tom Hamilton (Guardians), Jim Donovan (Browns) and Joe Tait (Cavaliers) are among the announcers with available calls like Tyler Naquin’s inside-the-park grand slam in 2016. Hablitzel said they borrowed the idea from a similar booth at the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto. Related: Hockey Hall of Fame, for casual or serious fans, captures the sport wonderfully in its downtown Toronto home A height-comparison board marks feet and inches so folks can match their height vs. athletes like former Cavs center Zydrunas Ilgauskas (7-3), boxer Vonda Ward (6-6) or Cheryl White (5-4), the first African-American female jockey. Trivia reels will play, and visitors can look up all 540 inductees by sport or year. George Vlosich’s vibrant, colorful mural emblazons a wall, highlighting several athletes. You’ll see Lou Groza kicking, Bernie Kosar fading back and a determined Katie Moon ready for her pole-vault approach. Vlosich, who is a creative force behind gvartwork.com, said it took him “three to four weeks” to complete the wall. His claim to fame is creating and preserving Etch A Sketch art of athletes, and a second colorful homage of Cleveland athletes is planned for the hall’s interior. The hall of fame’s roots date to 1975, when the Greater Cleveland chapter of the National Bicentennial Sports Committee, headed by John S. Nagy and William D. Reppa, sought projects to mark the nation’s 200th birthday the following year. “The whole concept of the hall of fame was part of the bicentennial celebration,” said Bob DiBiasio, senior vice president of public affairs for the Cleveland Guardians and president of the hall’s executive board. Committee members, he said, came up with scores of individuals knowing they wanted to honor people but didn’t envision the hall flourishing to the point it has. Both DiBiasio and Hablitzel credit Tom Gill for the hall moving forward to a permanent brick and mortar home. They said Gill, who is president of Urban Community School, is overseeing much of the process, and the school’s athletic component is set to open Friday, Nov. 21. The 15-acre campus includes Little League field turf donated by the Dolan family. Paul Dolan owns the Cleveland Guardians. The campus includes Urban Squash Cleveland. “Weve been wanting to add an athletic piece for a while,” Gill said. Hablitzel, who also credited the relationship between board members and Urban Community School officials to keep the project moving smoothly, said the underlying message is one of inspiration. “We want to use this place to motivate and inspire kids,” he said. “We want people to use it.” If you go: Greater Cleveland Sports Hall of Fame Location: Urban Community School Roundstone Athletic Center, 2025 W. 47th St., Cleveland. Annual induction: Reception, 6 p.m.; dinner, 7 p.m.; program, 8 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 2. Tickets are $275. Table for 10 is $2,500 and includes half-page ad in the dinner program. For reservations, email admin@clevelandsportshall.com, call 216-241-1919 or complete the form at clevelandsportshall.com This year’s class: • Wanda Ford, basketball • Tianna Madison, track and field • Stipe Miocic, mixed martial arts • Chris Spielman, football • Jack Turben, meritorious service The mural: • Austin Carr, basketball • Ben Curtis, golf • Bob Feller, baseball • Lou Groza, football • Clark Kellogg, basketball • Bernie Kosar, football • Katie Moon, track and field • Diana Munz, swimming • Jesse Owens, track and field • Andre Thornton, baseball • Charles Woodson, football
