Rock and Roll Hall of Fame outlines $175 million expansion, credits $17 million state grant

Greg Harris, president and CEO of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, told the Ohio House Arts, Athletics and Tourism Committee that the museum is undertaking a $175 million expansion intended to increase visitation, add public-facing spaces and update long-running exhibits.

Harris said the project will add a 50,000-square-foot entry wing, an unticketed public plaza and a mixed-use performance space that can hold up to 1,400 people. He said the expansion is intended to preserve the existing glass pyramid and create new unticketed areas so more visitors can access the lakefront site without an admission fee.

The expansion’s price tag is $175 million, Harris said, and the museum has raised about $165 million so far. "A $17,000,000 grant from the state of Ohio" has helped leverage roughly $148 million in private dollars, he told the committee.

Harris presented visitation and economic figures to illustrate the museum’s statewide impact. He said the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has welcomed about 15 million visitors since opening nearly 30 years ago, producing a cumulative economic impact he described as roughly $2.5 billion. He said last year the museum welcomed 519,000 visitors, and that its annual economic impact is more than $242 million, supporting about 1,900 jobs, $150 million in direct spending and about $22.4 million in state and local tax revenue.

Harris also gave construction history and financing context: he said the original building cost about $92 million to build, of which about $65 million came from public support when it opened, and that the expansion’s private fundraising has been the lion’s share of current financing.

Committee members asked questions about the project’s purpose, outreach and timeline. Representative C. J. Grimm, designated committee secretary for the meeting, noted regional music history and encouraged visits from the committee. Representative McNally asked whether international marketing or events were driving foreign visitation; Harris described the museum’s global outreach, bilingual materials and the visibility that comes with announcing inductees and hosting large events. Representative Upchurch and others praised the museum’s economic role and expressed interest in coordinating on tourism initiatives.

Harris invited the committee to hold a future meeting at the museum and said construction of the expansion is underway; he told the committee the wing construction should be finished in mid‑summer next year and that interior work on exhibits will follow. He said many exhibits inside the pyramid date to opening and will be refreshed "for the next 30 years." He also described unticketed, publicly activated entry spaces as a strategy to increase everyday community access.

The presentation included renderings and photographs of the construction; Harris said the project broke ground in October 2023 and that the performance space was already being built. He thanked the committee for the state appropriation and for supporting tourism investments.

No formal committee action was taken on the expansion during the meeting. Harris’s remarks were presented as testimony and an update to the committee; he also offered to host members and staff at the museum to view the project in person.

The committee adjourned after accepting the testimony and discussing the possibility of a site visit.