LeMay - America's Car Museum is a museum in the city of

Tacoma, Washington Tacoma ( ) is the county seat of Pierce County, Washington, United States. A port city, it is situated along Washington's Puget Sound, southwest of Seattle, northeast of the state capital, Olympia, and northwest of Mount Rainier National Pa ...

. The museum is adjacent to the Tacoma Dome and opened on June 2, 2012. Many of the cars on display were donated to the museum by the family of Harold LeMay.

Details

Harold LeMay owned a successful refuse company, Harold LeMay Enterprises, within the Tacoma metro area and amassed the world's largest private car collection. After his death, the city of Tacoma donated of land next to the Tacoma Dome for the museum that would contain some of his car collection. The majority of the collection remains at the LeMay Family Collection at Marymount in nearby Spanaway. The museum has of exhibit space, and contains a 350-car gallery showing cars notable for their speed, technology and design, as well as their importance to

car culture Since the start of the twentieth century, the role of cars has become highly important, though controversial. They are used throughout the world and have become the most popular mode of transport in many of the more developed countries. In dev ...

. The building also contains gift shops, restoration shops, lecture halls, galleries, a banquet room, and a café. Inside of America's Car Museum

From the mezzanine level, main level, and outside patio, there are views of

Downtown Tacoma Downtown is the central business district of Tacoma, Washington, United States, located in the inner Northeast section of the city. It is approximately bounded east-west by A Street and Tacoma Avenue, and north-south by South 7th Street and South ...

Thea Foss Waterway The Thea Foss Waterway, formerly the City Waterway, is a north–south inlet of Commencement Bay separating downtown Tacoma, Washington, from the Port of Tacoma. History The City Waterway was created in 1902 through a dredging operation propose ...

Commencement Bay Commencement Bay is a bay of Puget Sound in the U.S. state of Washington. The city of Tacoma is located on the bay, with the Port of Tacoma occupying the southeastern end. A line drawn from Point Defiance in the southwest to Browns Point in ...

, and the

Olympic Mountains The Olympic Mountains are a mountain range on the Olympic Peninsula of the Pacific Northwest of the United States. The mountains, part of the Pacific Coast Ranges, are not especially high – Mount Olympus is the highest at ; however, the easte ...

. Outside the museum is a courtyard and clubhouse for car clubs. The outdoor area is suitable for hosting car shows, auctions, swap meets, car club events, new car launches, and a

concours d'Elegance ''Concours d'Elegance'' ( French: ''concours d'élégance'') is a term of French origin that means a "competition of elegance" and refers to an event where prestigious vehicles are displayed and judged. It dates back to 17th-century France, whe ...

. The museum has had "Club Auto" satellite locations in Tacoma, Kirkland, Washington, and

Lakewood, Colorado The City of Lakewood is the home rule municipality that is the most populous municipality in Jefferson County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 155,984 at the 2020 U.S. Census making Lakewood the fifth most populous city in Col ...

Donors and sponsors

The projected cost of the museum is $100 million. Harold LeMay's wife, Nancy LeMay, donated $15 million to the museum. The land donated to the museum by the City of Tacoma is estimated to be worth $17 million. The American Automobile Association (AAA) of Washington made the largest corporate donation to date with its 2008 commitment of $1.6 million.LeMay Lands AAA Donation
Business Examiner (2008-09-08). Retrieved on 2009-01-22. Other major museum sponsors are

Bonhams Bonhams is a privately owned international auction house and one of the world's oldest and largest auctioneers of fine art and antiques. It was formed by the merger in November 2001 of Bonhams & Brooks and Phillips Son & Neale. This brought to ...

Boeing The Boeing Company () is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and sells airplanes, rotorcraft, rockets, satellites, telecommunications equipment, and missiles worldwide. The company also provides leasing and p ...

The News Tribune ''The News Tribune'' is an American daily newspaper based in Tacoma, Washington. It is the second-largest daily newspaper in the state of Washington with a weekday circulation of 30,945 in 2020. With origins dating back to 1883, the newspaper w ...

, and State Farm Insurance. Other donors include various car collectors, auto clubs and citizens worldwide. The architect for the museum is the Los Angeles-based firm LARGE architecture. JTM Construction of Seattle was the general contractor for the museum.

References

External links

LeMay America's Car Museum
{{authority control Automobile museums in Washington (state) Museums in Tacoma, Washington Museums established in 2012 2012 establishments in Washington (state)