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Company to build South Bend hotel, occupy old hall of fame

SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) – A development company has announced plans to build a five-story hotel in downtown South Bend and to purchase the former College Football Hall of Fame for $1.2 million to be used as its corporate offices.

The hall of fame building has been vacant since 2012, when the National Football Foundation moved the hall to Atlanta.

The South Bend Tribune reports the company plans to build a 120-room “major brand” hotel next to the hall of fame in what is now a parking lot. The hotel will open in the spring of 2017.

A use for the 5,000-square-foot lower level of the building has not yet been determined. The gridiron plaza, which hosts public events, will remain available to the public 30 times a year.