Tucked inside a trophy store in Northeast Philadelphia is a treasure trove of the city’s sports history, ranging from the first glass backboard used at the Palestra to the giant Phillies’ hat that sat atop City Hall when the Phillies won the World Series in 1993.
They are among the thousands of artifacts housed in part of a building that serves as both a Hall of Fame for the city’s sports icons and a place to showcase items that have either been donated, loaned or bought, and are on display.
The Hall of Fame, the brain child of avid Philadelphia sports fan Ken Avallon, was thought up in 2003 by Avallon and some family members, and came into existence in 2004 with its first class of inductees.
Plaques with the names of the inductees are on the walls leading into where Avallon, and a group of volunteers, have rotating displays to all things sports in Philadelphia.
“It’s a Hall of Fame, but it’s also a museum,” Avallon said. “We wanted it to be more than just a Hall of Fame. There is stuff and people here that won’t go into a Hall of Fame, but we wanted to showcase that too.”
As you walk down the short hallway to go into the room(s) where the displays are, the induction class plaques are surrounded by great photos of past Philadelphia sports stars or action shots, including many Sports Illustrated covers.
Where is the Hall of Fame?
If you walk into Spike’s Trophies shop at 2701 Grant Avenue looking for the Hall of Fame you will think you’re in the wrong place. The Hall of Fame is beyond the trophy store’s showroom, with the hallway leading to the open area.
Spike’s lets the Hall use the space and Avallon and his crew rotate out displays about every six months.
Right now there are displays to Irving Fryar and legendary Philly basketball coach Herb Magee, along with three displays dedicated to the Eagles.
The 2017 Super Bowl winning team has artifacts ranging from mounted newspaper front pages to a can of Chunky soup to Jason Kelce’s dog mask.
The display for the 1960 championship team has an autographed jersey by Chuck “Concrete Charlie” Bednarik, the Bethlehem native who was start at the University of Pennsylvania and then became an NFL legend playing for the Eagles.
Avallon says the memorabilia came from a variety of places, much of it donated by family members or teams or organizations that faded away.
All four of Philly’s pro sports teams have given Avallon things over the years, including a piece of the original wall from Veterans Stadium
Avallon estimates that when you visit the Hall, you see about 10 percent of its contents. The rest is stored upstairs or in a container bin outside the building.
You don’t even have to go inside to see two of Avallon’s pride and joys of the Hall of Fame.
On one of the outside walls of the building is a full-length mural of Philly’s great sports moments and superstars. The mural is lit up at night so if you are driving west on Grant Avenue you will see it.
Because the mural was designed in 2014 it is obviously missing an important achievement in the last 10 years – the Eagles’ Super Bowl win on Feb. 4, 2018.
Avallon corrected that by having another mural, dedicated to the Eagles’ first Super Bowl win, constructed on the west side wall of the building. It’s his favorite thing of the thousands of artifacts from Philly’s sports history.
And he made sure to leave plenty of space on that wall for additional sports worthy moments from Philadelphia teams.
When asked where he would put a display in his already cramped space inside the building if the Eagles beat the Chiefs, Avallon didn’t blink.
“Oh, we will make room for that, that’s for sure,”
Avallon, who is a technical project manager for Comcast, says that visiting days are mainly on Saturdays and usually by appointment.
He hopes to someday move into a bigger space, which will allow for interactive displays and more of the traditional way to showcase artifacts.
If you are a Philly sports fan, the Hall of Fame is a must, especially if Avallon and his volunteers have to make room for another title team.
Source: Berkshire mont
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