Topeka ? A bill intended to prevent the closing of the Kansas Sports Hall of Fame in Abilene won House approval Tuesday.

The measure, sent to the Senate on a 66-55 vote, would raise an estimated $132,000 and $220,000 a year through surcharges on tickets for some athletic events at the state’s public universities.

Home to portraits and memorabilia of 90 Kansas sports legends, the hall is to close after May 15 unless it gets more money to meet its annual $300,000 budget, according to director Ted Hayes.

In recent years, the hall has received an annual state subsidy of $50,000. But Gov. Bill Graves omitted the subsidy from his proposed budget for the fiscal year that begins July 1 because of the state’s financial problems.

“We are saying we are willing to showcase our heroes to the world,” said Rep. Vern Osborne, R-St. George, a sponsor of the bill. “If we aren’t willing to do this simple thing, who is?”

The bill would require the six Board of Regents universities and Washburn University to add a $1 surcharge to tickets for one football game, one men’s basketball game and one women’s basketball game each year.

The revenue would go directly to the hall.

Kansas University already voluntarily adds the surcharge, but it opposes the mandatory nature of the bill.