Rep. Darryl Owens Presents $150,000 To Portland Museum
State funds will complete capital campaign and create Paul Horning memorabilia exhibit

Frankfort, KY: Rep. Darryl Owens (D-District 43) today presented Portland Museum officials with $150,000 in state funds to complete renovations at the Portland Museum in Louisville. Rep. Owens was joined by House Speaker Pro Tem Larry Clark, Museum Director Nathalie Andrews, Museum Board President Bryan Warren, and Paul Hornung, former football star and hometown hero. Part of the funding will create an exhibit to house Hornung's donated sports memorabilia.

The museum, located at 2308 Portland Avenue, is in its final stages of a more than $1 million capital campaign that is a matching grant program with the J. Graham Brown Foundation. The capital campaign, which coincides with the 25th anniversary of the Portland Museum, will create proper storage for collections, add more exhibit space, complete repairs on the back part of the building and make the museum handicapped accessible.

"I believe in the Portland Museum's mission and the essential services it provides the Portland neighborhood, Louisville and our Commonwealth" said Rep. Owens. "The Museum ensures that these and other stories that define Portland - like the heroic response of citizens to the Great Ohio River Floor of 1937 and the African American oral histories - are carefully recorded and handed down to school children, visitors and generations to come. Now, Paul Hornung's story will be added to the Portland Museum's wonderful collection."

Paul Hornung excelled in football at Flaget High School and then at the University of Notre Dame where he earned the nickname "the Golden Boy" and his exceptional play on the field earned him the prized Heisman Trophy. To this date, Hornung is the only player to ever win the Heisman Trophy while playing for a team with a losing record. He went on to play for the Green Bay Packers as the first pick of the 1957 NFL draft. In his 11 years with the Packers, Hornung won four world championships and two league most valuable player awards. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1986.

Hornung, calling himself an 'honorary' board member of the Portland Museum, said, "My mom and I grew up two doors down from the museum in an upstairs apartment and it's really a part of my heritage. It's fitting that the museum should become the stewards of my sports collection, because of the impact this wonderful place has had on my life."

"We are thrilled to have this appropriation and grateful to Rep. Owens for his dedication to Portland," said Andrews. "The museum has reached its campaign goal and will now be able to better serve the community by developing itself as heritage tourism destination. Paul Hornung's legacy is an important part of our neighborhood history and having Paul's memorabilia and trophies will draw visitors into Portland and our museum."

Rep. Owens thanked Speaker Pro Tem Larry Clark, a 1964 Flaget graduate, with providing support and leadership in securing the $150,000 funding in the state budget. "Rep. Clark was instrumental in keeping this funding in the budget," Rep. Owens said.

"This allocation closes out a three year effort by the museum to complete an ambitious capital campaign that will lay the foundation for improved collections and public spaces in the museum," said Warren. "Rep. Owens' unwavering support and Rep. Clark's outstanding leadership will make this possible and we are grateful for their efforts."