Photo by Vitali Adutskevich
Gilmore Car Museum to Break Ground on Two Major Expansion Projects July 8.
HICKORY CORNERS, MI — The Gilmore Car Museum will celebrate a major milestone in its continued growth with a groundbreaking ceremony for two transformative projects on Wednesday, July 8, at 3:30 p.m., immediately preceding the Museum’s popular Wednesday Night Cruise-In.
The ceremony marks the official start of construction on the Performance Car Gallery Expansion,
and the new Education & Engagement Center, two cornerstone projects of the Museum’s Fuel the Future capital campaign.
Museum members, supporters, community leaders, donors, and the public are invited to attend as the Museum celebrates an investment that will expand exhibits, enhance educational opportunities, and inspire future generations of automotive enthusiasts.
The Performance Car Gallery expansion will add nearly 13,700 square feet of exhibit space, extending the Museum’s storytelling beyond 1975 through the year 2000. The gallery will showcase the evolution of performance automobiles. from iconic American muscle cars to influential international sports cars, highlighting the innovation, engineering, and cultural impact that continue to shape today’s automotive world.
The Education & Engagement Center,
now fully funded through generous donor support, will create an interactive learning environment designed for visitors of all ages. The new space will feature hands-on educational programming, interactive exhibits, and engaging activities that introduce automotive history, technology, engineering, and design in exciting new ways.
“These projects represent an investment not only in our museum, but in the future of automotive education and enthusiasm,” said Nick LaCasse, Executive Director. “As we celebrate six decades of preserving automotive history, we’re also creating new experiences that will inspire tomorrow’s designers, engineers, collectors, and car lovers.”
Following the ceremony, guests are encouraged to stay for the Museum’s weekly Wednesday Night Cruise-In, where hundreds of classic, collector, and specialty vehicles fill the historic campus for one of southwest Michigan’s favorite summer automotive gatherings.
The groundbreaking ceremony is free to attend.
These projects have been made possible through the extraordinary generosity of the Museum’s lead campaign supporters. The Gilmore Car Museum gratefully acknowledges the Margaret Dunning Foundation, The Marvin and Rosalie Okun Foundation, The Dorothy U. Dalton Foundation, The Suzanne Upjohn Delano Parish Foundation, the Jim Gilmore Jr. Foundation, the Mike and Sharon Seelye Family Foundation, the Baum Foundation and Irving S. Gilmore for their visionary investments in preserving automotive history and inspiring future generations through education. Their support has been instrumental in bringing the Fuel the Future campaign to this important milestone.
For more information about the Fuel the Future campaign or to support the Museum’s expansion efforts, visit the Gilmore Car Museum website, GilmoreCarMuseum.org
Event Details
Groundbreaking Ceremony
Wednesday, July 8
3:30 p.m.
Gilmore Car Museum
6865 W. Hickory Road
Hickory Corners, MI 49060
About the Gilmore Car Museum
The Gilmore Car Museum is North America’s largest automotive museum, dedicated to preserving and interpreting the history, heritage, and social impact of the automobile. Situated on a 90-acre historic campus in Hickory Corners, Michigan, the Museum welcomes more than 130,000 visitors annually and features hundreds of historic vehicles, multiple partner museums, educational programming, and nationally recognized automotive events.