With a unanimous vote from Collingwood council, the upstairs room at the Eddie Bush Memorial Arena holding the photos, plaques and sports history of the community will be renamed the WJ (Scotty) Carmichael Collingwood Sports Hall of Fame Room.
It's a change that's "long overdue" according to the current hall of fame chair, Mark Rich.
"It rightly acknowledges the role of a former important citizen of the Town of Collingwood and their support and recognition of athleticism in the Town of Collingwood," said Rich following council's decision on Sept. 16.
Carmichael was a quintessential sports fan and promoter who called hockey games and worked as the Collingwood sports correspondent for the Toronto Telegram. He highlighted local athletes and games through his radio career, and Rich said Carmichael had an uncanny ability to pull stories from the games and athletes.
"Scotty was a fixture," said Rich. "He was at every game, soaking in the environment and the stories."
Carmichael is a founding member of the Collingwood Sports Hall of Fame.
"In the early 1970s he realized that Collingwood's incredible sporting heritage had no written history, and that the legacy was only going to grow," said Rich.
Carmichael and eight others – John Freudeman, Greg Titus, Bob Bush, Ron Ralph, Darryl Sly, George Butlers, Jack Wheeler, and Nip Spooner – served as the first selection committee for the hall of fame in 1974.
"What we've tried to do is take Scotty's original mandate, which was sports, but really hockey, and we've been able to grow it by sport, but more importantly by gender," said Rich. "I think what's absolutely incredible is the number of women who have come through their sporting careers and are now being recognized."
This year, two female hockey players and a girls' varsity hockey team will be added to the Collingwood Sports Hall of Fame, something Rich said probably wouldn't have been done 30 years ago.
"It's absolutely incredible that we can take a little bit of yesterday and add it to today and to the future," said Rich.
There will be a more formal recognition of the renaming of the hall of fame room during this year's induction ceremony, which takes place Oct. 19.
For more on the hall of fame, visit the website here.
