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Time capsule to be buried at Muhammad Ali’s former training camp in Schuylkill County

Fighter’s Heaven, the site of former professional boxer and heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali’s former training camp in Deer Lake, will host a 50-year time capsule burial.

Friends of the famous boxer will be among those in attendance to witness the burial of artifacts showing 50 years of history at the training camp, from its establishment in 1971 to present day. The free event will be held June 4 at 11 a.m.

“This is to bury the time capsule with today’s events that were happening around the camp itself, the Mike Madden legacy who refurbished the camp,” said Sam Matta, media relations for Fighter’s Heaven. “In 50 years he’s hoping that his two sons, Jesse and Jack, will still be around to come and open up that time capsule.”

Shelby Splain of the Pennsylvania State Historic Preservation Office also plans to attend.

The heritage time capsule is part of a Pennsylvania State Historic Preservation Office Community Initiative Award presented to Fighter’s Heaven in 2019. Its burial was postponed by  the pandemic. The award recognizes the hard work and dedication of organizations, municipalities, agencies and individuals whose work embodies the theme of the statewide historic preservation plan. Recipients have demonstrated the value of preserving iconic places and community landmarks through their ownership and stewardship.

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The time capsule will be filled with stories and memorabilia related to Ali’s former training camp.

“There will be articles that were written about Muhammad Ali, about Fighter’s Heaven today,” Matta said. “There will be some interesting artifacts that are going to be put in the time capsule. When they open it up in 50 years, they’ll say, ‘Wow, look at was written here.’”

Several people who knew Ali will be in attendance, including Ali’s former personal aide and driver Harold Hazzard Sr. of Philadelphia.

Hazzard was among the select few invited to Fighter’s Heaven in September for an outdoor viewing of the new documentary series “Muhammad Ali: A Documentary” by Ken Burns when it aired on PBS.

“He was like a brother to me,” Hazzard said before the film viewing. “He never treated me like an employer. He treated me like I was family. It was just fantastic.”

Also in attendance will be Lynda Pollack Schiffert, originally of Deer Lake and now a resident of Orwigsburg, who knew Ali because he was a family friend. Her father, Bernie Pollack, was a friend of Ali’s business manager Gene Kilroy. Her father sold the Deer Lake land to Ali for the camp, a secluded site in an area called Sculps Hill.

Today, Schiffert volunteers on weekends to give tours at the Fighter’s Heaven and share stories about Ali.

History of Fighter’s Heaven

Fighter’s Heaven offers tours by appointment Monday through Friday and from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekends.

“There is never a charge to visit Fighter’s Heaven. It is a free museum,” Matta said. “The goal is to maintain the legacy of Muhammad Ali who trained there through his illustrious career. The camp was built in late 1971 and 1972, and it started to come together. Actually, it became the capital of the world for avid boxing fans to come and visit.”

Muhammad Ali built his Fighter's Heaven training camp while seeking a secluded place to train after attracting significant media attention when he returned to boxing in 1970. (Photograph by Jeff Julian)
Muhammad Ali built his Fighter’s Heaven training camp while seeking a secluded place to train after attracting significant media attention when he returned to boxing in 1970. (Photograph by Jeff Julian)

Ali built his Fighter’s Heaven training camp while seeking a secluded place to train after attracting significant media attention when he returned to boxing in 1970.

“I brought Muhammad Ali to Deer Lake, taking him away from all the distractions of being in a city,” Kilroy said in a statement to media in September. “I told Ali I was going to make a businessman out of him. He could use the camp as a tax write-off. Ali’s accountants agreed with me.”

The camp included eight log cabins for his support personnel, a mosque, kitchen and a gym where he trained for numerous fights, such as the Rumble in the Jungle in 1974 and the Thrilla in Manila in 1975.

“Ali loved being at Deer Lake, it was his piece of heaven,” Kilroy said. “The people were good to us. I’m a very luck man to have known Ali.”

After his retirement from the ring, Ali sold the camp to George Dillman of Cumru Township in 1997. Following Ali’s death on June 3, 2016, Dillman reopened Fighter’s Heaven to the public, including the gym, kitchen and cabins.

Since July 2016, the site has been owned by Mike Madden, son of legendary Hall of Fame football coach John Madden.

Madden continues to open the camp to the public for free tours.

“The story of Muhammad Ali is too important to American history and sports history,” Madden said. “The lessons we can learn from the life of Muhammad Ali are as relevant now as ever.”

In October, Fighter’s Heaven will erect a Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission historical marker.

For more information, go to fightersheaven.com.


Source: Berkshire mont

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