Plan For Antique Auto Museum Rolling Along
What now stands as just another wooded patch of land off Route 539 may soon be home to the state’s first public car museum.
Members of the Vintage Automobile Museum of New Jersey, which for nearly a decade has put on mobile exhibitions of antique and classic cars throughout the state, are poised to open a permanent home, one that will be a first in the Garden State.
“New Jersey is probably the only place that doesn’t have a public auto museum,” said Dave DiEugenio, the museum’s executive director. “We think its time to have a place of our own.”
And so, the 300 members of the museum club — the outgrowth of the Vintage Automobile Club of Ocean County — have worked tirelessly to raise the estimated $2 million for the museum’s construction and drum up support for a place to permanently display a growing collection of autos.
They’ve drawn up plans for a 24,000-square-foot showroom and education center complete with a library, offices, retail store and auditorium. The two-story building will be situated on an approximately 2-acre lot that abuts the Whiting Commons shopping center.
“People have recognized our potential, I think, and we’ve been able to build a collection of 28 cars that the museum owns,” DiEugenio said.
Among the more prominent pieces of auto nostalgia to be displayed is a 1913 Mercer that the group proudly displays in its logo, an 1899 horseless carriage and a 1917 Stanley Steamer.
If the plans are realized, they will join the growing number of museums across the country that focus on the history of the automobile and its evolution, said Laura Brinkman, president of the National Association of Automobile Museums.
“So many significant memories are tied to cars. They are a part of everyone’s lives,” Brinkman said. “They changed the world and it’s natural to have a place to show that.”
The group has plans for “dynamic displays” of cars dating back to the early 1900s that will change monthly and offer a glimpse into the rich history of automobiles.
Plans for the museum were presented to the township’s Planning Board last month for an informal concept review and members were encouraged by board members to continue pursuing the project.
A tentative groundbreaking date of November could be in jeopardy, however, because the plans have yet to be approved by the state Pinelands Commission, which oversees all development in the region. The commission has cited 15 parts of the museum’s plan that need to be brought into compliance, especially dealing with stormwater runoff, DiEugenio said. After clearing that hurdle, the museum will proceed at full-speed.
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