The car industry may be in upheaval, but the institution that's one of the nation's premier car museum continues to grow.
The Gilmore Car Museum in Hickory Corners has raised nearly $10 million in
private donations for the construction of the nearly 40,000-square-foot
Genevieve and Donald S. Gilmore Automotive Heritage Center. The museum
will offer public hours year round for the first time in its 45-year
history with the opening of the new exhibition center.
The
center will feature a large exhibition gallery, state-of-the-art
multimedia theater, and a research library and archives. It also will
have educational and interactive areas, a museum store, offices, and an
artifact storage facility.
The new building will look like an
early 1900s brick factory, be made of environmentally friendly
materials, and feature energy efficient geothermal heating and cooling.
The new structure is one of the ongoing improvements at the
museum built as part of the master plan begun eight hears ago to boost
the Gilmore Car Museum's position as an automotive history destination.
And visitors have been responding. Attendance in 2010 was up 33 percent
over 2009 levels.
The museum has invested over $15 million
toward buildings, infrastructure and endowment since 2004. It's
expanded the campus by nine new structures. Last year, 56 donations of
historic vehicles were accepted. Last spring, the museum completed a
new exhibit gallery, replicated a Franklin Motor Car Dealership circa
1911, and constructed a new restoration and education center for its
"Garage Works" high school program. Last fall, the museum announced the
addition of the Model A Ford Museum. The Cadillac - LaSalle Foundation,
Lincoln Motor Car Foundation, and the Model A Ford Museum. Each
anticipate breaking ground on their own museum within the next 18
months, bringing the total to eight distinct, independent museums on
the Gilmore Car Museum campus.
Situated on a 90 acre park-like
campus, the museum is well known for its collection of nearly 300 cars
and its more than a dozen historic structures including Michigan barns,
a train depot, a 1930s gas station, and a functioning 1940s diner.
"When
Donald and Genevieve Gilmore opened their private collection to the
public nearly 50 years ago, they invested the Gilmore Car Museum with a
mission to teach and inspire," says museum executive director Michael
Spezia.
"Through initiatives like building the Automotive
Heritage Center, improving on our educational programming and
facilities, and providing hobbyists and historians research materials,
we have the opportunity to touch even more lives and become a resource
for a much larger community."
Writer: Kathy Jennings
Source: Michael Spezia, Gilmore Car Museum
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