Site Tour Stop 1: The History of the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum
NOV 19, 1982:
The Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum is established
The Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum was started in Toronto by Bruce Prentice and was incorporated on November 19, 1982. The main two homes for the Hall of Fame in Toronto were Exhibition Place and Ontario Place. The Hall of Fame closed its doors in Toronto in 1991. It soon began the search for a new home.
AUG 25, 1994:
St. Marys is declared the new home for the CBHFM
During the early 1990s 12 cities expressed interest in becoming the new home for the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. The 12 were cut down to the top 2 cities: Guelph and St. Marys. Guelph had a strong connection to early baseball through George Sleeman who lived and worked in Guelph, and was a very influential figure in early Canadian baseball.
Ultimately St. Marys won the bidding process on August 25, 1994, becoming the new home for the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. St. Marys won because of the town’s proximity to the Beachville game of 1838, and because of the land which was donated by the St. Marys Cement Company.
JUNE 4, 1998:
The Hall of Fame officially opens in St. Marys
The CBHFM originally opened in a converted farmhouse, which had initially been built in 1868. The museum was established in collaboration with the St. Marys Rotary Club, and the St. Marys Cement Company, who donated 32 acres of land to the project to establish playing fields.
NOVEMBER 23, 2017:
Construction begins on a 2,500-square-foot expansion to the museum
The project created a secure archive facility and resource library for the Hall’s extensive collection which consists of over 6,000 books and magazines and more than 10,000 artifacts and papers. The renovations also included a new entrance and gift shop area, an accessible washroom and new auditorium/exhibition space.
The project was made possible by a number of generous private donations and funding through the Canada 150 Community Infrastructure Program.
April 27, 2019:
