B.C. Sports Hall of Fame relocates hundreds of thousands of artifacts to make way for FIFA World Cup

From century-old provincial senior men's baseball jerseys to a keeper Lombardi Trophy won by a Kamloops-born Super Bowl-winning punter, the vast majority of B.C.'s premier sports artifacts won't be on display when the FIFA World Cup comes to town.

The B.C. Sports Hall of Fame (BCSHOF) will be shuttered for the duration of the World Cup in Vancouver, which will host seven games inside B.C. Place, the same stadium that is home to the province's sports museum and its archives.

PavCo, the Crown corporation that owns and operates the stadium, says the space will serve as the media working area at B.C. Place during the World Cup, as determined by FIFA.

Curators are in the midst of relocating hundreds of thousands of artifacts, both from the public gallery and adjacent storage rooms, to a new long-term collections space in the lower level of the stadium — an all-hands-on-deck move to meet a May 15 deadline.

"It's been a huge operation," said Jason Beck, BCSHOF curator and facility director. "The sheer number of boxes and labels and bubble wrap and packing paper."

Beck says his team has had to relocate tens of thousands of pieces of memorabilia, like trophies, jerseys, and medals, along with hundred of thousands of archival items such as photos, film reels and newspapers.

"When you're moving 30,000 delicate items, you want to make sure it's done in a safe way, and an organized way," he added.

Among key displays in the public hall being moved include the 2010 Olympic podium, mannequins, and large display cases as FIFA takes over the space for two months.

Beck admitted he's disappointed the hall won't be open during the tournament — a time when B.C. Place will be packed with fans from around the world — but it was out of his control. He says he's holding out hope BCSHOF will somehow be a part of the festivities.

He says the BCSHOF is anticipating missed revenues during the World Cup period, which takes place over the typically busier summer tourism season.

"I don't know if there will be [staff] layoffs, but there will definitely be a reduction in hours," he said.

Beck and his team of curators carefully load each box of artifacts onto dollies and wheel them down and around the arena to their new long-term archival space at the bottom level of the stadium.

Racks of jerseys have already made the trip.

The team has just under two months to pack and move the rest of the gallery and archives.