Charlotte gets NASCAR Hall of Fame

The $107.5 million building will be completed by Spring 2010, and honour the sport's stars from the past and the future. Charlotte beat off competition from fellow finalists Daytona and Atlanta to house the facility.

Organisers say they chose Charlotte because of the area's history with the sport and the strength of the city's overall financial structure. The building will be funded by increased taxation on hotels and motels, as well as contributions from the private sector and local government.

The Hall will include an exhibit space, a Great Hall, a Hall of Honour, interactive entertainment restaurants, retail outlets, and a state-of-the-art media centre for the industry.

The Hall of Fame has been designed by architecture firm Pei Cobb Freed & Partners. The same firm has designed the Javits Convention Centre in New York City, the expanded Louvre in Paris, and the US Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, DC.

More than 80 percent of NASCAR's Nextel Cup teams are based in Charlotte.

"To NASCAR fans everywhere, it is my distinct honour to announce that NASCAR has selected Charlotte to be the home of the NASCAR Hall of Fame," said NASCAR chairman and CEO Brian France.

"The winners in this process are the 75 million NASCAR fans nationwide, who will have a Hall of Fame to call their own.  The City of Charlotte will welcome fans from around the country and even the world to the NASCAR Hall of Fame."