The
North East Motor Sports Museum, which broke ground last September amid a who’s
who of New England auto racing that included Ricky Craven and Joey Logano, made
its long-awaited arrival to New Hampshire Motor Speedway on Wednesday. With
NEMSM President Dick Berggren on hand, a fleet of four flatbed trucks made the
500-mile trek from Gettysburg, Md., to the speedway’s south entrance on Route
106.
More than 500 people and organizations have contributed money, artifacts, cars
and time to the museum, which was constructed by Morton Buildings in
Gettysburg, Md. The museum will initially measure in at just over 9,500 square
feet, with an additional 10,000 square feet to be added at a later date. The
building will be used to house the history of motorsports from the Northeast
area with multiple displays of racing vehicles and racing related artifacts.
“This project is unique in that virtually every museum in the country has one
or several wealthy individuals behind it,” said Berggren, who plans to have the
museum open for business by NASCAR race weekend Sept. 23-25. “This museum is
being built with funding provided by hundreds of racers and race fans rather
than a few wealthy individuals. The support of local companies that have
donated or reduced the cost of their goods and services has been huge to help
the project get where it is.”
A considerable amount of work has already been completed on the museum’s site. Thousands
of yards of gravel has been moved to level the property (equipment for that
work and payment of the equipment operator has been donated by legendary former supermodified driver Bentley
Warren).
The water well
(donated by Capital Well) and storm
water evacuation system (pieces donated by EJ Prescott and EF Shea corporations) are both in the ground.
All
under-floor plumbing (donated by Total Climate Control) has been installed.
All
under-floor electrical conduit and conduit to carry wiring from the
on-property pole to the building has been installed, with labor donated by Doherty
Electric.
Footings
and foundation have been back-filled, with concrete donated by the Michie
Corporation.
Today, a crew from Kendall Construction arrived to prepare the underfloor
sand for the five-inch thick concrete floor ,with plans to pour the floor later
in the week.
The floor will take approximately a week to
cure, after which Morton’s crew will begin to erect the building. The pre-fab
will take roughly six weeks to set up and once the building is established, the
work will begin to frame the bathrooms, library and offices. Interior plumbing
will be finished and electrical wiring will then be installed, followed by
sheet rock installation and paint.
Cars, motorcycles, books, photos, helmets and the rest will then begin to be
moved in.
This is just awesome.
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