It's official.

The College Football Hall of Fame is leaving South Bend for Atlanta, Executive Director Lisa Klunder told NewsCenter 16's Angelo Di Carlo Tuesday night.

In a press conference today, South Bend Mayor Steve Luecke confirmed the news. He also said that the city of South Bend was not given an opportunity to counter the offer that was made by Atlanta.

The National Football Foundation owns and operates the Hall of Fame and they sent Luecke a letter informing him of their departure. He said that in the letter, the NFF said that there was nothing that South Bend did wrong to cause them to leave.

Its current lease with South Bend runs through the end of 2010. Klunder says there are still plenty of logistics to work out and that they are willing to stay until the end of the lease if that is what the city of South Bend wants.

In today’s press conference, Luecke said it’s possible the Hall of Fame could leave at the end of this football season.

A highly placed source in Atlanta tells NewsCenter 16's Jeff Jeffers that the Atlanta Sports Commission has been negotiating with the NFF for two years.

The new location will be in Atlanta's Centennial Park near the Aquarium, Philips Arena and the Georgia Dome.

This news comes as no surprise locally, but there are different opinions on its departure from downtown South Bend after 14 years.

With 80,000 fans in Notre Dame's football stadium and about seven home games per year, it sounded like a win-win for the city of South Bend to have the College Football Hall of Fame in walking distance.

Hall of Famer, former Irish All-American and employee at the University of Notre Dame, Chris Zorich hears about the exciting Hall of Fame experience from fans all over the country. He was shocked to hear the move is official.

Zorich says, “It's definitely going to take away from folks coming in for that weekend because it enhances the experience. Being an inductee, I'm very proud of it. I would like the College Football Hall of Fame to prosper as best it can, so I'm kind of torn, but if that's the best location for it, then yes, I'd like to see it grow.”

The Hall of Fame first moved to South Bend from Cincinnati in 1995.

Since its arrival, it has been a source of controversy between South Bend residents.

It has also dealt with struggling attendance. Numbers show attendance at about 65,000 people per year, no where close to the expected 200,000 people.

Zorich says, “The hardest thing I'm sure is for local businesses around the area, how are they going to be affected.”

South Bend Common Council member, Derek Dieter says he's not worried. He thinks many different venues could take the spot, like an “ESPN Zone. That's my first spot. I think plenty could go down there. That's one of my choices, a sports bar, amusement and that type of stuff. As long as the city can get back some of our money or bang for our buck, whatever it is to help pay the rest of the building off.”

Dieter says the city has another eight years to pay off the building. He tells us the council has received no word about the Hall of Fame moving.

There's no word on whether South Bend Hall of Fame employees will be asked to go to Atlanta.

The Atlanta Sports Commission will operate the new Hall and draw its admissions from football fans in downtown Atlanta who are there for various sporting events.

The Sports Council is linked with several major corporations including Coca Cola, AT&T, ESPN along with the Atlantic Coast Conference and the SEC.

Several outlets in Atlanta first reported the news on Tuesday afternoon.

In April, former NFL superstars led a campaign trying to move the hall to Dallas, Texas. The NFF moved its administrative offices to Texas two years ago.