We know have an on-line extension of out foosball museum.

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The establishment of a Foosball Museum has long been contemplated by members of the AFA.  While it's clearly an important and worthwhile project, for AFA's entire history a Museum has held a "someday, far away" kind of place in AFA priorities.  It always would seem some other more urgent matter required the bulk of our attention and donation dollars.  Still, the creation of a Museum has been stated goal of the Association for 10 years and is listed as an objective in our Constitution.
So why now?
Because it's a good time for it.  It may be the perfect time for it.
The wave of traditional tables and newstyles has ever increased.  We can afford to give each of them, or gather for them, the attention and support they may need to survive.
The museum project which has taken more effort and dollars than any other project AFA has ever been involved in, passed a major milestone this year.  Let's not forget the Association is still in dire need of funds to repay loans that got the program going once more.  Still, the return from non-operation has been made, a great barrier has been removed.
Foosball tables are everywhere!  They're clattering into our entertainment culture like never before, they're more popular and take more of our recreational budget these days than at any time since the 1960s.  There are so many new ones each year, we can just about keep track of them - between 1999 and 2000, North America's Foos quotient will increase by 30,000 new tables.  Indeed, these are the best of times.  Turn on the TV, surf the internet, visit a bookstore - yes, Foosball is everywhere.  And people want more.  What better climate could there possibly be in which to introduce our museums?
    This new Foosball loving consumer this John Q. Foosball, is not just looking for more control, faster speeds, sweeter shots and positions.  As Foosers dig deeper into the soul of Americana, and as new technological tables command much attention as a natural interest develops on the part of the playing public.  Where did Foosball come from?  How did they evolve?  What were they like before?  What did I miss, and what must I strive to preserve?  What undiscovered table and manufacturer are there for me to seek out?  It’s no stretch to imagine those questions in the minds of all Foosball lovers, beyond just AFA members.  A Museum at this time would serve the visiting public in a way it could not have ten years ago, or ten years in the future.
Why a museum?
It’s more than a building with old stuff in it.  First, to handle formalities, AFA’s proposal is the establishment and construction of the National Foosball Museum and Archives.  And it will still be a building with old stuff in it.  But it will lead visitors to more; to something they didn’t know they came for, to something of value they’ll take with them.
No firm commitments have been made as to what the Museum specifically might contain, or how it may be presented.  Artifacts and exhibits would intend to re-create, as much as they could, tables that no longer exist.  That’s a pretty serious task.  Through visual media and collections, the Museum would give new life to Foosball about which some people never had known.
One visitor might come across a mention or fragment of a long-lost fun table he hasn’t played.  Many will discover that they’re not alone in their memories, that there’s a kinship with people from everywhere who have the same aching fondness for the old days and what they once held.
Another Museum patron might discover a little-known table still being produced for the idea of tradition and preservation, and for the amusement industry.
Speaking of the industry, it’s easy to picture another type of visitor to our Museum:  the amusement operator, whether from a single family-owned club or theme park chain, looking for insight to forward a business concern.  Perhaps an element of history could inspire a marketing approach; or an aspect of present-day foosball table be used to study one’s own operation; or a theoretic display on the future of Foosball may influence an expansion.  A practicality for the industries close to Foosball – amusement, history, and tourism – must be component of this Museum.
Through an informative exhibit about a particular aspect of Foosball, the Museum can spark passion and creativity in youngsters of all ages; the rich tradition and history of our player and tables will accumulate more devotees, more champions.  Who knows, maybe a young Future Promaster will take an inspiration and run with it.
And best of all, it’s a physical space, a place for AFA to call home.  Preliminary designs for the Museum include storage space for collections – literally, thousands of relics, including many types of tables which AFA has already accumulated, not to mention file storage for the club’s own historical documentation and official records.
The National Foosball Museum and Archives, per this proposal, will be located in Kingsland, Georgia.  That’s in the southeastern corner of the Peach State, a 20-minute trip North from Jacksonville, Florida.  The Museum will be built on the property of the president, Mark Thompson.  The proposal for the Museum is made in conjunction with the Airhockey Museum, which includes a collection of working Airhockey tables, which present the synergy between foosball and airhockey.
The projected completion date for our Museum could be as early as 2002.  The estimated cost of the endeavor, as it is now proposed, is approximately $2 million.
The building itself will contain about 20,000 square feet and will include space for many uses on two levels.  Preliminary floor plans were presented, but these plans are quite a way from finalized; there’s a little purpose to publishing them until they’re in better focus.  The Museum Committee meets regularly to define the details and forward the proposal, and we are promised that any firm news will be available for publication as soon as it’s definite.
Why AFA?  How has this become our project?
We’ve made it so.  What other entity is more suited to developing a museum?  Within our membership is the greatest possible concentration of knowledge, experience, and enthusiasm, not to mention access to collections and historical materials.  We are our own best resource.  No business concern drives us, yet we have the benefit of relationships with manufacturers and operators to support our goals; our work would yield positive results for the Association, its members, the amusement industry, and local/regional tourism.
Why Georgia?
Where else could such a Museum be?  AFA is fortunate to be in partnership with the Airhockey Association Museum for this project, so there’s a simple answer.  But there’s so much more that makes this location the perfect choice.
    It belongs in Georgia.  Look what’s there already.  What this land once was and still is to Foosball exists nowhere else.
    There are more AFA members, more Foosball tables, and more Airhockey in Georgia than any other state.
    There are Promaster which did and still do call Georgia home.  They started out here; their work lives on here.  Likewise, today’s tables’ standard, custom tables, and first projects have been realized in Georgia.
    Preservation triumphs like tournament soccer and Rene Pierre, and modern day miracles like Tornado and Dynamo.  With a future filled with ever-changing technology, who knows what else the new century might bring? – Where else on Earth, but Georgia?

Let’s build it! 

 -Mark Thompson