Tamworth council taking over Country Music Hall of Fame
After being run by the Australian Country Music Foundation (ACMF) since 1992 the Australian Country Music Hall of Fame will, from March 2020, come under the auspices of the Tamworth Regional Council.
The ACMF is a not-for-profit organisation which relies on volunteers to preserve and promote the history and heritage of the local country music scene.
The Hall of Fame, located in a guitar-shaped building in Tamworth’s Peel Street, includes mementos from pioneers through to today’s stars, with an interactive Walk A Country Mile display.
ACMF president Eric Scott told the Northern Daily Leader that it was essential for the council to take it over so it could survive.
He revealed that the ACMF was, like most volunteer-based associations, struggling to find fresh volunteers to take on the workload. “This means we do have a future,” Scott said. “We’ve had problems with recruiting younger volunteers, which is a problem worldwide.”
“I hope the locals realise, whether they are country music fans or not, it is a legitimate part of Tamworth’s and Australia’s history,” he said.
The Foundation is a fully-incorporated, publicly accountable body, registered as a charity and a member of Museums Australia, Museums & Galleries NSW, the Collections Australia Network (CAN) and has affiliations with the National Film & Sound Archive, the National Library, the Powerhouse Museum and the Australian National Museum.