Fishing Hall of Fame, Museum to bid farewell to Dania Beach

This maritime museum is weighing anchor and setting sail — all the way to the backwaters of Missouri..

The Fishing Hall of Fame and Museum, housed in a distinctive, steel-sheathed building along Interstate 95, will soon leave Dania Beach for new digs in Springfield.

But the 30-foot leaping swordfish, so visible to passing motorists, is here to stay.

The hall of fame and museum has been nestled against Bass Pro Shops, west of I-95 and south of Griffin Road, for 16 years. It's operated by the International Game Fish Association, and honors famous anglers, novelists Ernest Hemingway and Zane Grey among them.

But the $32 million musuem couldn't reel in enough visitors, even in fish-crazy South Florida. So it's splitting from the IGFA and hooking up with a wildlife attraction in Missouri.

Dania Beach Mayor Marco Salvino was surprised by the new locale.

"Missouri?" he said. "They don't even have saltwater fishing in Missouri."

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/fl-fish-museum-leaving-dania-20150320-story.html