New Packers Hall Of Fame Set To Open This Week

The Green Bay Packers are ready to unveil their new hall of fame — a 15,000-square-foot exhibit that emphasizes interactive, computer-driven displays.

One planned attraction at the hall, which opens this Friday, will be a replica of Vince Lombardi’s desk that fans will have a chance to sit behind. The original mid-century kidney-shaped desk is back at Lambeau Field after having been on loan to a local public museum.

Brent Hensel, the hall of fame’s curator, said technology will also allow fans to get a more up close look at the coach and the team in general. He said exhibits will include “play diagrams and “scrapbooks that you can flip the pages and look at each page.”

Some oddities are also on display: “We have Jerry Kramer’s splinters,” Hensel said.

Those would be large wooden splinters that were surgically extracted from the famous offensive lineman’s groin in 1964 at the Mayo Clinic. Kramer had long complained about pains in his abdomen and eventually, exploratory surgery revealed the wooden shards. Hensel explained that the splinters were due to a childhood injury.

The new hall is smaller than the old one, but Hensel said the computerized displays will actually show more memorabilia.