Rendering of of an exhibit in the HHHOF, Harelm, N.Y.
JT Thompson’s dreams of building a Hip Hop Hall of Fame Museum (HHHOF) are coming true in Harlem, N.Y., and he feels humbled and blessed for the support and encouragement from those in the entertainment and development industries.
“We’re extremely excited but, more importantly, we’re extremely grateful,” said Thompson who is the creator and executive producer of the 1990s BET Hip Hop Hall of Fame Awards TV show. He’s also the founder of the Hip Hop Hall of Fame and Museum that operates as a 501(c) 3.
Initial plans include a 60,000-sq.-ft. museum, a cafe, gallery, retail gift store, event space, offices and a multimedia studio for film and television production. A performance stage for artists also is included in the preliminary plans.
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Rendering of the Hip Hop Hall of Fame multiuse complex planned for Harlem, N.Y.
Thompson has met with big venue management companies such as SMG and AEG, as he wants to hire a professional venue management group to run the operation.
A hotel also is planned, and Thompson hopes a big brand will put its flag on the accommodations.
The museum will honor former and current hip hop artists, recognizing their work in the industry. An educational element will allow youth to visit the museum, learn about the hip hop recording industry and actually create music themselves, Thompson said.
An HHHOF Arts & Media Youth Academy will train students for careers in tech and media, and they also will produce “real-life content for the museum, and the hip hop television channel network,” Thompson said.
The first phase of the development is projected to cost $150 million, and those funds are currently being raised in various ways, including sponsorships.
The HHHOF construction project will begin in February and will be built on a block in Harlem, New York, where the Harlem building currently stands. Thompson expects the acquisition of the building to be complete in September. Next February, the building will be demolished and construction on a new structure will begin.
Recently, the HHHOF was awarded a bid for the development site, allowing the nonprofit and design companies to begin the first phase of planning.
“We’ve been working with JT Thompson for close to eight years on this predesign project,” said Terence Healy, design principal at HealyKohler, a museum design company based in Washington, D.C., that has worked with the Smithsonian Museum, among other big museums across the nation.
Phase I includes getting the structure off the ground and completing the design of the museum and retail shop.
Phase II includes “a full scale design and build development of the total site that could be approximately 20 stories high and include The Hip Hop Hall of Fame and Museum and Hotel Entertainment Complex design concept that features the Hall of Fame, museum, a 5-star hotel, retail mall and gift shop, arcade, TV studios, sports bar, restaurant and concert lounge with a goal of serving up to 1 million local, national and international visitors annually,” stated the press release.
Thompson also said that “green technology” will be used to build all structures. The overall plan is to make sure the new venue is sustainable, not only financially, but also environmentally.
“The HHHOF envisions a state of the art green technology and energy conservation museum building project that will aggressively explore and utilize all of the available cost and energy saving technologies and mechanisms that are currently in the marketplace,” the press release stated.
Rendering of a retail space at HHHOF, Harlem, N.Y.
The museum will be a participatory experience for guests, Healy said.
“We want it to be interactive,” he said, highlighting the youth education part of the project. “How can kids get involved with the genre, with hip hop, with music as well as the business?”
Over the last three decades, Thompson has worked with dozens of famous hip hop artists, and he’s confident that adding the HHHOF to Harlem will be just as big as when Cleveland got the Rock N Roll Hall of Fame and Museum.
“He definitely has the passion. I think the venue and the location of the HHHOF will be highly successful,” Healy said.
The Switzer Group, Inc., based in New York City, is the interior architectural design firm on the project and Zubatkin Owner Representation, LLC, also of New York City is the project management company for the development.