The LeMay – America’s Car Museum will have its grand opening on June 2, 2012 in Tacoma, Washington, having completed a massive construction effort within budget and on time. “We’ve managed to build a museum during difficult economic times when nearly everybody said it couldn’t be done and we expect to attract more than 425,000 visitors annually,” says President David Madeira.
Overlooking the Foss Waterway, the nine-acre campus with the four-story, 165,000 square foot museum as the hub will include a massive show field to host everything from vintage car events to rock concerts and drive-in movies. There will also be a gift shop, banquet center and café, meeting facilities, educational center and library and 15 galleries housing cars from the 3,500 car collection amassed by namesake Harold LeMay.
“America’s love affair with the automobile is the centerpiece of the museum,” says Madeira. “Everybody remembers their first car, family driving vacations, a sports car they fell in love with as a teenager. We’ll spotlight more than a century of automotive history.”
The debut will also feature an exhibit entitled “British Invasion” which will feature some of England’s notable vehicles, including Mini, MG, Triumph, Austin-Healey, Jaguar and Aston Martin. According to Scott Keller, “This exhibit celebrates the magical time when British culture exploded onto the American scene and just for fun, there will be a nod to the mods and rockers and their café bikes that buzzed around London during the Sixties.”
For more information, visit www.lemaymuseum.org.
