A portrait of every inductee would hang in a lavish frame, and there would be a detailed description below to tell visitors and future generations how that person made Maitland a great city.

There would be the great achievers like Les Darcy and Ruth Cracknell as well as residents who had shaped the city through sport, culture, business, public service and academia.

But Maitland does not have a museum, and the concept of a Hall of Fame has only been supported in an online capacity. That happened this week.

The Hall of Fame will be part of Maitland council’s website, but Maitland councillor Brian Burke – who first pushed for the initiative in the early 2000s – is already looking for ways to get a museum up and running and a Hall of Fame within it.

He freely admits that an online recognition system is not what he wants, but he is grateful the concept has progressed.

“I’ve just come back from out west and nearly every place has a museum – we need to preserve our history now, we can’t keep waiting,” Cr Burke said.

“I don’t see it finishing with a website, it’s got more potential than that, and it should be more about Maitland instead of the people who have achieved the highest pinnacle for Australia.”

Cr Burke, and councillors Loretta Baker, Bob Geoghegan, and Henry Meskauskas will sit on the selection committee with two community representatives.

It is anticipated that nominations for inductees will be called for each February, but it is not yet know if it will begin next month.

Cr Burke thought there should be 20 to 30 automatic inductees and then five or 10 a year.

He envisages an annual celebration of their inductees, and hopes the concept will attract corporate sponsorship.