Rock and Roll Hall of Fame details $175 million expansion as tourism leaders urge continued state marketing support

Greg Harris, president and CEO of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, told the Ohio House Arts, Athletics and Tourism Committee on May 6 that the museum is expanding to accommodate more visitors and to drive additional economic activity for Cleveland and the state.

Harris said the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has welcomed about 15,000,000 visitors since it opened and that those visits have produced a cumulative economic impact of approximately $2,500,000,000. "We have an annual operating budget of roughly $35,000,000," Harris said, and he described the museum as both an arts institution and a tourism anchor for Northeast Ohio. He said the expansion project is budgeted at $175,000,000, of which the museum has raised about $165,000,000 — roughly $148,000,000 in private dollars and $17,000,000 from the state — and that the new wing will include a 50,000-square-foot entry, unticketed public spaces and a 1,400-capacity performance space.

The Rock Hall presentation led into a tourism roundtable featuring leaders from the sector who emphasized tourism's statewide economic footprint and…