Severe space restrictions at the Australian Country Music Hall of Fame’s current site in Brisbane St means as little as 10 per cent of items are on show.

But the pending relocation of the Visitor Information Centre (VIC) has paved the way for the Hall of Fame to move into the unique guitar-shaped building later this year.

Australian Country Music Foundation president Eric Scott said the board would need to hold discussions with Tamworth Regional Council before the move became official.

However, he said that the VIC site would offer solutions not just to the problem of space, but issues relating to parking and visibility from passing traffic.

“We would have no parking problems, which we do at the moment, because if a coach-load comes in there’s no guarantee they have a place to park,” he said.

Mr Scott said the museum’s collection, comprising thousands of photos, recordings, costumes, instruments and other items, was considered of “national and international” significance.

“This creates an opportunity for the Hall of Fame to relocate to a building which is not only a much larger space, but was designed in the shape of a guitar, making it an ideal location for what is a significant tourism drawcard,” Tamworth Regional Council’s director of business and events John Sommerlad said. 

The Hall of Fame has been housed in the old Mechanics’ Institute building, which was opened in 1866, since 1994.