America's Car Museum facts for kids
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| Established | June 2, 2012 |
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| Location | Tacoma, Washington, USA |
| Type | Automobile museum |
| Collection size | 350 automobiles |
| Visitors | 400,000+ expected annually |
| Architect | Alan Grant, LARGE architecture |
LeMay - America's Car Museum is a cool place to visit in Tacoma, Washington. It's a museum all about cars! The museum is right next to the Tacoma Dome. It first opened its doors on June 2, 2012. Many of the amazing cars you see there were given to the museum by the family of Harold LeMay.
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About America's Car Museum
Harold LeMay was a very successful businessman. He owned a company that collected trash in the Tacoma area. Over time, he gathered the world's largest private collection of cars! After he passed away, the city of Tacoma gave 10 acres of land for the museum. This land is right next to the Tacoma Dome.
The museum was built to show off some of his incredible car collection. Most of his original collection is still kept at the LeMay Family Collection Foundation in nearby Spanaway, Washington.
What You'll Find Inside
The museum has a huge space for exhibits, about 165,000 square feet! Inside, there's a special gallery with 350 cars. These cars are chosen because they are famous for their speed, cool technology, or unique designs. They also show how important cars are to our culture.
Besides the cars, the building has other cool areas. You can find gift shops to buy souvenirs. There are also shops where old cars are fixed up, called restoration shops. The museum has rooms for talks and presentations, more galleries, a big banquet room, and a café.
Outdoor Fun and Views
From different levels inside the museum, like the mezzanine and main floor, you can see amazing views. You can look out over Downtown Tacoma, the Thea Foss Waterway, and Commencement Bay. On a clear day, you might even see the Olympic Mountains!
Outside the museum, there's a large 3-acre courtyard and a clubhouse. This outdoor area is perfect for car clubs to meet. It's also used for fun events like car shows, auctions, and special car launches. Sometimes, they even host fancy car competitions called a concours d'Elegance. The museum also used to have smaller "Club Auto" locations in other cities like Kirkland, Washington, and Lakewood, Colorado.
Who Helped Build the Museum?
Building a big museum like this costs a lot of money. The total cost for America's Car Museum was expected to be $100 million. Harold LeMay's wife, Nancy LeMay, gave a very generous donation of $15 million. The land given by the City of Tacoma was also worth a lot, about $17 million.
Many other groups and people helped make the museum possible. The American Automobile Association (AAA) of Washington made a big donation of $1.6 million in 2008. Other important sponsors include companies like Bonhams, Boeing, The News Tribune, and State Farm Insurance. Many car collectors, car clubs, and people from all over the world also donated.
The person who designed the museum building was an architect named Alan Grant. His company is called LARGE architecture. The company that built the museum was JTM Construction, from Seattle.
