The Texas Sports Hall of Fame's Expansion and Endowment Campaign will culminate with the completion of an 18,000 sq. ft. expansion to the museum which will feature 1) a Health, Fitness and Education Center (HFEC) for youth education and literacy awareness, and 2) major exhibit galleries and theater honoring the member institutions of the Southwest Conference (SWC) and the Cotton Bowl. The campaign will also help ensure the financial stability of the museum with the creation of a $1,000,000 endowment fund.

 The HFEC is an educational learning center concept designed to emphasize to our state's youth the importance and necessity of the core values for health, fitness, literacy, and character development. It will initially focus on six health and fitness related "topical themes", with others to be developed, based on our statewide advisory board recommendations:

 Interactive exhibits and educational curriculum / tours will be developed for each of the themes. The curriculum will be based on the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) standards to allow us to market our field trip experience to school educators statewide. The TSHOF has the advantage of using relationships with TSHOF inductees as vehicles to impress upon youth the importance of these topics.

From 1914-1996 the SWC was our state's most prominent sports institution. An important part of the social fabric of our state, the SWC was a common denominator which united people regardless of income or educational background. In 1996 before the dissolution of the SWC, the TSHOF was named "Official Repository" for SWC memorabilia. League commissioner Kyle Kallander entrusted the TSHOF with all legal trademarks and copyrights for the SWC. A full decade has passed since the dissolution of the SWC. It is important the TSHOF acts now to preserve the SWC's unique history.

Texas Sports Hall of Fame: SWC's resting place finds home in Waco

Web Posted: 08/16/2007 Tim Griffin
San Antonio Express-News