North East Motor Sports Museum Arrives at NHMS‏

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.