Hello all-
I was able to go to the Gilmore in Michigan on Friday. Some of you have been there. It is a nice campus made up of a main building and several sub buildings on 90 acres. I remember Jim L bringing up a possible national KF museum a few years ago but I am not sure it got much traction, or progress. I may be incorrect as I am not in the loop.
It seems to me that the Gilmore would be a good place for a national presence for KF and I am thinking a replica of Willow Cottage would be a good building. I saw exactly 2 KFs at the museum. A nice Darrin and a Caribbean Coral Virginian.
Lincoln and Cadillac, and other organizations have nice buildings these. I understand KF does not have deep pockets like these clubs. But I am just putting an idea out there.
I believe other clubs have some stand alone club headquarters locations such as the A.A.C.A. and maybe Packard. But what I liked about the Gilmore was that it was inclusive and the club would have more visibility here rather than Willow Run or other locations where people would specifically have to come to US. At the Gilmore, visitors could be there for the general atmosphere and walk into a building dedicated to KF, some becoming members, some buying KF products or researching further.
Archives and collectibles could be loaned to the building, as other clubs have done. Inside, as with other clubs buildings, cars are on display and instead of having 2 random high end KFs in various buildings, the club could/would dictate OUR cars. So there could be a Henry J or an Allstate, an early slab side, a Dragon, and so on. Even a Willys.
One of the aspects of the dedicated buildings I liked was that engines, sub components and dioramas existed in the same space as cars. Someone could rebuild and provide a supercharged motor on an engine stand. A special section could be devoted to Carleton Spencer, or other unique aspects of the cars.
Because the club may not have the resources of larger clubs, we could set the display area for 5 cars, not 20 or more.
There is a barn that seems to be devoted to orphans, that is where the Virginian is, but the mission of that building is muddy and not clear. In addition, one of the appeals of the campus are the nostalgic, iconic buildings they have brought in such as the diner, the gas station and Cadillac and the Model A Club built buildings to look like dealerships.
I was not able to spend much time there, and generally I am not a fan of static car museums. I prefer driving events. But if you have to have a museum complex, the Gilmore is a special experience.
We have a fair amount of older members with nice cars. But values have decreased for some of them. Donation to the museum offers a tax incentive to some members and helps to cover maintenance costs after construction.
This model is not specific to the old car hobby. I am also a Rail Fan, a railroad historian and The Milwaukee Road (Milwaukee Road is a fallen flag railroad based in Milwaukee) Historical Society has underwritten a new building at the Illinois Railroad Museum- a similar Railroad museum to the Gilmore. It will house the club's archives, have a model train layout and a meeting room.
KFOCI could choose to hold a national meet at the Gilmore in rotation. The site is excellent for this purpose. There is easily enough room for the club's national meets, and Kalamazoo and Battle Creek are near by.
