What happens to a museum when the lease changes?

Every museum in the Automotive Museum Guide has an origin story. Some stories may be similar or have some aspects in common, like a big car collection, a wealthy benefactor, or a group of enthusiasts joining forces.

The museum I founded has a pretty unique origin story, and the story is still being written. I started Miles Through Time Automotive Museum with one car I inherited and literally no money at all in 2017.

The museum started in an old Ford dealership that was about 7,000 square feet and attempted to consign, store, and borrow vehicles to put on display. For three years, I did this by myself and grew the museum to display a crammed 30 or so vehicles.

The opportunity came to move the museum in 2019/2020 into an old textile mill, which was fun, for reasons we all remember. This move increased the size of the museum and changed it to a 501c3 nonprofit.

By the end of 2021, I created Vintage Garage Antiques with the sole purpose of supporting the museum, which also enabled the first expansion. In May 2023, we added a fourth gallery to the museum by expanding the antique store.

Growth and potential are now stagnant in the museum’s current location. I do not own the building, nor does the museum. The current location is a great stepping stone, but to ensure the longevity of the museum for future generations, I know the only way to make sure that happens is if we do not lease a building.

Landlords have the potential to kill a business, especially a nonprofit. I’ve known this for some time, especially after what happened to the second-oldest car museum in the country, the Sarasota Classic Car Museum.

My lease was just renewed and, unfortunately, increased a whopping 20%. By the end of three years, the expenses will be over $20,000 more annually than they were last month.

This is a hard pill to swallow, especially since nothing goes towards anything that helps the museum. The museum alone, without any benefactors or major funding of any kind, could not afford to support itself. 

This is pretty much the case with most nonprofit museums.  Funding has to come from somewhere. Revenue from admission alone is not enough for about 99% of museums.

Some museums host events, sell storage, or sell cars. Miles Through Time has an antique shop to help subsidize expenses. 

I’ve got three years to figure out how to move the museum one more time into its forever home and not be subject to lease changes which ultimately could kill everything. 

How I’m going to do this is going to be a challenge. I’m going to need help, the deep pockets kind of help. The good news is, I know where the museum needs to go, and I know what needs to be done. The question will just be how we get there, but I’ve got three years to make it happen.

The AACA Museum is a big beautiful museum that gets thousands of visitors and numerous donations monthly, but originally it was in a much smaller building.

The Rambler Ranch started when Terry Gale saved his father’s 54 Nash in 1977. His collection quickly grew to about 30 vehicles and then, over the years, continued to grow until he had to move to the current location which has over 200 cars on display.

Justice Brothers Car Collection is a little bit different. As the name would suggest, it is a private collection that is open to the public because of their company, Justice Bros Products. The collection is a tribute to American racing.

I’m excited to see how the next chapter of Miles Through Time Automotive Museum plays out. I had to build a museum from nothing and then repeat the process three years later. In three more years, Miles Through Time will be celebrating 10 years, which will be an amazing milestone to mark the grand opening of the museum’s forever home.

If you or anyone you know might be interested in joining me in this next chapter, feel free to reach out anytime. 

Have a great week! 

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