MCG Trust is seeking a corporate sponsor to provide $10 million for the planned upgrade of the MCG City Museum.
Trust chairman John Wyley said he expected the upgrade to double or possibly quadruple the number of visitors to the museum complex.
The complex will include the Australian Sports and Olympic museum gallery, the Australian Sports Hall of Fame, the Australian Cricket Hall of Fame and the Australian rule house.
It will be built underground on the north side of MCG, and on the Olympic stands it will be open in time for the Commonwealth Games in March 2006.
"The plan will make it a major tourist destination again," Mr Wylie said . ".
Before the closure and reconstruction last year, the Museum and Hall of Fame had 100,000 visitors a year, compared with the Melbourne Aquarium, which is about 800,000 kilometers, and the Ian Potter Gallery in Federal Square NGV, which is more than 1 million kilometers.
A major sponsor is required to pay for upgrades and new technologies to enhance the collection of a large number of sporting memorabilia, including the Australian rules, the Olympic torch and cauldron, the original 1858 handwritten code for the photos, medals, artwork and other items. The basic fit-
This will be part of a $0. 44 billion overhaul of the MCG currently under way.
But the Melbourne Cricket Club is working on a plan for interactive displays, and MCC chief executive Stephen goough said children's visits to the museum may include attractions, for example, measure the speed of their bowling ball in a practice net built under MCG, "race with James Hurd" or "face a fast bowler" interactive display.
"It will be more dynamic and modern," said Gao . "
"The museum can be a living thing.
Since we started working on this technology, it has changed a lot.
"Sponsorship may include signage rights at the entrance to MCG City, or the sports ambassador program.
$10 million in five years will buy 15-year rights.
MCG City will open the time for the Commonwealth Games, and Mr Gove said he expects the games to be held and later this year marks the 50 th anniversary of the Melbourne Olympics in order to increase the attendance of the museum
Wyley said he hopes to sign up for the big corporate sponsor within six weeks.
The Australian Sports Hall of Fame, which will be chaired by tennis superstar Neil Fraser, will be based in MCG after four to five years of negotiations and proposals from other states.
Fraser said the Hall of Fame features will depend on the size of the sponsorship agreement.
But, he says, its biggest attraction is around 300 athletes, many of whom will visit regularly when the Hall of Fame opens in 2006.
"All of our members agreed to let us visit them on a regular basis.
So, if there is a boat race in Melbourne, we will let the rowers participate (to the complex)
Said Mr. Fraser.