The museum will put into play many of the things staff members have learned in assembling the exhibits for their first national touring exhibition, Baseball as America, which recently opened at the Museum of Natural History in New York, said Hall of Fame President Dale Petroskey.

"I think our curatorial team has learned a lot in putting together the exhibition. We're thinking about things in a new way," he said.

Hall of Fame spokesperson Jeff Idelson said the scope of the project has changed from what it was originally three years ago to include the renovation of much of the museum.

Idelson said there are four components to the project: to create a safe environment for visitors; provide a smoother traffic flow through the museum's galleries; better manage and control the climate for the artifacts and to provide a greater presence of interactive technology for visitors.

While some of the specific details remain to be worked out, the project will result in an increase of exhibit space. The extra space will not come through increasing the size of the building, although the small courtyard on Main Street between the former Clark gymnasium building the original Hall of Fame building will disappear.

"Basically we are going to better utilize the space we have to provide a more seamless entry from one exhibit to another," Idelson said, adding that it could mean a hallway or two would be removed.

Petroskey added that currently there is no real flow to the baseball story line and that will be changed so visitors can make sure they saw everything in the museum. "We're going to make it flow better," he said.

The content of museum exhibits will also be expanded through interactive technology.

"The interactive component will augment and compliment the museum's exhibits," Idelson explained. "We have a plethora of information that couldn't be used in the space we have. Interactive technology will allow us to tell a deeper story."

And the Hall has learned, Petroskey said, that interactive doesn't necessarily have to mean high-tech. He pointed to an example from the Baseball as America exhibition in which replica baseball bats from Babe Ruth, Rod Carew, Mark McGwire and Edd Roush are tethered, but can be picked up and handled by visitors so they can get a feel for the bats and the differences between them.

In another part of the exhibit, visitors can get a better understanding of what its like to throw different pitches. "They can get a sense of how it feels when the ball comes off their fingertips," Petroskey said. "I think our staff was pretty creative."

When it comes to high-tech, the museum's traveling exhibit is making use of touch screens for all the Hall of Famers so visitors may learn more about them through photos and stories.

The new approaches to creating exhibits have started with the touring exhibition, but may be incorporated into the museum as well. "I see some of these things finding their way into exhibits in Cooperstown, Petroskey said, but added that the institution will never give way to batting cages and pitching machines. "We're never going to be gimmicky with interactive technology," he said.

The main entrance to museum will see alterations to address climate control issues created when the outside atmosphere enters the building along with visitors. Idelson said the concept is to create an airlock of sorts that would halt the flow of outside air into the museum.

The new entrance will also accommodate visitors who have become Friends of the Hall of Fame and are accorded privileges, including in recent summers, a separate entrance to the museum. Special provisions for those Friends of the Hall of Fame will be inside the building instead of outside, Idelson said.

The project includes improvements to some of the museum's environmental and fire safety systems, such as sprinklers and fire alarms.

"The proposed project is a clean project. Site disruptions will be minimized during construction and new ventilation systems will be environmentally friendly systems which produce less noise and fewer emissions," wrote the Hall's independent consultant Joe Middleton in a letter from the Leatherstocking Corporation to the village planning board in October 2000. "We believe the proposed project will have a favorable impact on the community by improving overall safety and access to the facility which will, in turn, improve crowding conditions at the main entrance to the Hall."

Idelson said none of the work that would interrupt the flow of visitors into and out of the Hall of Fame is scheduled to take place during the institution's peak visitor times - primarily Memorial Day to Labor Day. "That's the reason it will take three years," he said.

There will be times during the winters, however, when portions of the museum will not be accessible because of renovations. "We have been careful to make sure the inconveniences will occur when we have the smallest number of visitors," he said.

Funding for the project will come from state grants totaling approximately $2.5 million. The remainder will be supplied by the Clark Foundation and other foundations which have asked to remain anonymous, Idelson said.