David Madeira, President & CEO of LeMay–ACM, blogs about moving past the halfway point of constructing AMERICA'S CAR MUSEUM and what the future holds.
Shortly after I came aboard as president and CEO in 2002, the ACM board and I decided we had to create a destination, not just a museum. We needed a show field to host everything from vintage car concours to rock concerts. We wanted to show drive-in movies on the outside wall of the museum. Think about a summer Saturday night with American Graffiti as the main feature. Bottom line: The mission was to create ways to make this fun and create a vibrant campus that would compel people to return over and over.
We decided this project would be built 100-percent through philanthropy, it would serve as the heart of the world's automotive culture and, after conducting a situation analysis, agreed the museum would have to be marketed nationally. And, if we were going to succeed, it would have to be embraced by people across the country.
Fundraising moved along nicely until the recession of 2008 hammered us. Despite tough times, we finally attracted enough funding to begin construction in June 2010. After breaking ground, I invited a couple my core leaders who had been with me from the start, to open a special bottle of Madeira to toast our long, but fruitful journey. Man, that bottle of wine from my namesake island in Portuguese sure tasted good!
Today we're looking at completing the exterior of the Museum sometime this summer. While still in the midst of never-ending fundraising, we'll soon be announcing plans for our grand opening in 2012. Sure, we've had our share of doubters along the way, but I invite them to see firsthand what has been accomplished. They can gladly join us in a celebration toast.
NOTE: The LeMay Museum is a “Friend Of The Sarasota Café Racers” (see SPONSORS page at http://www.sarasotacaferacers.com/ and I’m a proud member of the LeMay’s Steering Committee.
For more information about America’s Car Museum (ACM), please visit, http://www.lemaymuseum.org/