NEW YORK – Americans' passion for athletics is on display all year. A diverse population means an equally diverse list of sports that fans call their favorites.

If only there were a single place with items such as game-used bats from the likes of Alex Rodriguez that are out in the open and not enclosed in a glass case, and an endless array of exhibits dedicated to topics such as youth sports and "weekend warriors."

For fans, it sounds like the ultimate dream. That dream is now a reality.

Earlier this month, the Sports Museum of America – the nation's first interactive, multimedia museum geared to just about every kind of game we play or watch – opened at 26 Broadway in Lower Manhattan. The museum was created in partnership with more than 50 halls of fame and other sports groups.

It's the new permanent home to college football's Heisman Trophy awards ceremony. It will house the Billie Jean King International Women's Sports Center, including the first Women's Sports Hall of Fame.

The location of the museum, in the old Standard Oil building not far from Wall Street's famous "Charging Bull" sculpture and the Battery's Staten Island Ferry terminal, is fitting because it's at the base of the "Canyon of Heroes" tickertape parade route.

The museum will have its share of artifacts – from the sports bra shown by U.S. soccer player Brandi Chastain after her Women's World Cup-clinching goal, to a diary kept by U.S. track and field legend Jesse Owens during the Berlin Olympic Games of 1936 – but the keyword for the museum is "interactive."

"Each person in a family of five might have a different favorite sport, so we wanted to make sure this experience is for everyone," said museum founder Philip Schwalb, who expects to draw a million visitors a year. "The name 'museum' fits us and doesn't fit us. You'll be able to touch and feel things here."

Guests not only will be able to handle Wayne Gretzky's hockey stick, but they can put their faces inside a goalie's mask and experience a virtual-reality onslaught of slap shots. There also will be a NASCAR simulation, where fans can see, hear and feel what it's like to be on the racetrack as cars whiz by. If that seems too intimidating, you can play "Fan Fight," a Family Feud-type game based on sports polls.

Contact: 212-747-0900; www.sportsmuseum.com.

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