Date set for Robinson Museum opening: His 91st birthday

A date has been set for the opening for the long-delayed Eddie G. Robinson Museum, in the works now for a decade.

Consist rains at the proposed exhibit site, the former women’s gymnasium on the Grambling State campus, have slowed exterior work, said museum commission chairman John Belton. But the project is still on schedule.

The museum is set for opening on Feb. 13, 2010, on what would have been Robinson’s 91st birthday.

“It looks like everything will be ready by then, and it’s such a fitting day to open,” said Secretary of State Jay Dardenne, who toured the quickly rising facility and visited with Robinson’s widow Doris. “We’ve got a lot of work to do, but we’re getting there. It’s getting exciting.”
Dardenne’s office would oversee the every-day operations of the state-run museum.

Construction costs, allocated to total $3 millon, have been streamlined enough that there could be as much as $100,000 left over for exhibit construction, Belton said.

The museum commission and interested area supporters have continued to raise money for the effort, aimed at honoring the NCAA Division I leader for all-time football wins. Robinson retired from Grambling in 1997, having coached there for most of six decades.

Belton reported during the meeting that $24,326.02 had been placed in the Eddie Robinson Fund, with an additional $15,007.06 in an account set up for the museum by the Grambling Bingo Palace.

James Davison, a member of the original museum commission and Robinson family friend, then presented a check this week on behalf of Lottie Green for $25,000. Green was also among the original group who sought to create an exhibit space to recognize Robinson.

Donations were also received from Mr. and Mrs. Robert Clark, Thelma Williams, Cheasapeake Gas, AT&T, and Grambling alumni chapters in Houston and Washington D.C. State Rep. Rick Gallot played a key role in the gifts from Cheasapeake and AT&T, Belton said.