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 an exciting museum located in Tacoma, Washington. It's right next to the famous Tacoma Dome. This amazing museum first opened its doors on June 2, 2012. Many of the fantastic cars you can see there were given to the museum by the family of Harold LeMay.
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Exploring America's Car Museum
The museum is a huge place, covering about 165,000 square feet. That's a lot of space for cars! It has a special gallery that can show up to 350 cars at once. These cars are chosen because they are super fast, use cool technology, or have amazing designs. They also show how important cars are to our culture.
What You Can See Inside
Besides the main car displays, the museum has other cool areas. You can find gift shops to buy souvenirs. There are also workshops where cars are fixed up and made to look new again. The museum has lecture halls for talks and special events. There's even a big banquet room and a café if you get hungry.
Amazing Views and Outdoor Fun
From different levels inside the museum, like the mezzanine, you can see incredible views. You can look out over Downtown Tacoma, the Thea Foss Waterway, and even Commencement Bay. On a clear day, you might even spot the Olympic Mountains!
Outside the museum, there's a large courtyard and a clubhouse. This outdoor area is perfect for car clubs to meet. It's also used for exciting events like car shows, where you can see many different types of cars. Sometimes, there are even car auctions or special car club gatherings.
The Story Behind the Museum
The museum was created to share the incredible car collection of Harold LeMay. Harold LeMay owned a very successful company that collected trash and recycling in the Tacoma area. Over his lifetime, he collected the largest private car collection in the world!
After Harold LeMay passed away, the city of Tacoma gave 10 acres of land next to the Tacoma Dome for the museum. This land was used to build the museum that now displays some of his amazing cars. Most of his huge collection is still kept at the LeMay Family Collection Foundation in nearby Spanaway.
Who Helped Build the Museum?
Building a museum this big costs a lot of money. The total cost for the museum was about $100 million. Harold LeMay's wife, Nancy LeMay, gave a very generous donation of $15 million to help start the museum. 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. Other major supporters 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 to the museum.
The design of the museum building was created by an architecture company called LARGE architecture. The company that built the museum was JTM Construction from Seattle.
