The Gilmore Car Museum in western Michigan draws over 50,000 visitors each year and is one of the largest automotive museums in the nation, but its ambitious expansion continues as it reopens to start its 45th season on May 1.

I love it when a museum says "cameras encouraged!" on their web site, especially when the museum and its contents are so photogenic. We'd visited the Gilmore in the past, so we knew it would be a great place to go with our cameras when we stayed in nearby Kalamazoo late last summer.
The museum, set on 90 acres between Kalamazoo, Grand Rapids, Battle Creek and Lansing, is a spacious campus dotted with restored barns, historic buildings and replica structures housing the automotive collections. I remember thinking how much space the site had for expansion during our visit, even as there were several more buildings there than we remembered from previous visits, so I'll be particularly interested to see the changes there when I visit again.

Construction of the 40,000-square-foot Genevieve and Donald S. Glimore Automotive Heritage Center continues as the museum reopens and prepares to become a year-round destination. The museum's Facebook page posted updates through winter on the new building, which will have exhibition space, theater, research library, offices, gift shop, meeting rooms, and storage areas.
Museum officials project an autumn 2011 completion for the new building, which will connect several existing buildings to more readily allow much of the museum to remain open year round for the first time.
The new building's design, based on an old brick paper factory, may appear vintage, but the design incorporates environmentally friendly materials and an energy efficient geothermal heating and cooling system.
The Heritage Center is part of a master plan the museum began nearly a decade ago, investing major money into infrastructure upgrades, new exhibits, and community outreach programs. The institution managed to raise $10 million in private donations to build the center in 18 months-an impressive feat made even more impressive in the face of Michigan's challenging economic climate.
Don Gilmore, chairman of Upjohn Pharmaceuticals, started collecting vintage cars in the early 1960s. He land at Hickory Corners and moved a couple of restored barns there to store his collection. His wife Genevieve suggested turning the site into a museum, so the couple established a non-profit foundation to support the museum, opening it to the public in 1966.

The museum began inviting other groups to share their campus in 1987 as a cost-effective way of expanding the museum, while allowing smaller groups that may have difficulty supporting a full museum to house their collections in individual buildings at the Gilmore. The museum currently includes dedicated buildings or displays featuring vehicles from the Classic Car Club of America, Franklin Automotive Collection, Pierce-Arrow Museum, and the Tucker Historical Collection and Library.
The Cadillac-LaSalle Club, Lincoln Motor Car Foundation, and Model A Ford Museum all expect to break ground and/or finish their new buildings at the Gilmore in the next year or so.
The museum site recommends allowing 2-1/2 to 3 hours to visit the museum, but car buffs and photographers can easily spend the entire day there, wandering the grounds to check out more than 200 vintage cars displayed inside the barns.

It's fun to stroll from barn to barn, occasionally spotting a vintage car or the Gilmore's authentic London double-decker bus on the road.
I particularly like the re-created gas station, constructed onsite in 1998 using original blueprints from 1929 and filled with lots of cool 1930s gas station memorabilia from that era.

The perfect way to cap off your visit is stopping at the 1941-vintage Blue Moon Diner for a lunch, a piece of pie, or a dish of frozen custard (as we had during our most recent visit).
Living near Detroit, I always knew about our reputation as The Motor City, but I was surprised to learn just how many car companies called Kalamazoo home over the years. Check out The Kalamazoo Automobilist by David O. Lyon or Checker Cab Photo History by James Hinckley.

I liked the Gilmore's exhibit about Alice Ramsey, the first woman to drive an automobile across the United States. Read more about her trip in Alice's Drive: Republishing Veil, Duster and Tire Iron by Alice Ramsey.
We visited the Gilmore Museum while visiting Kalamazoo. Read more about that at The Kalamazoo House: An urban B&B in southwest Michigan, Kalamazoo Institute of Arts anchors vibrant West Michigan art scene, and Abraham Lincoln visits Kalamazoo, Michigan.
© Dominique King 2011 All rights reserved
Any place that says cameras encouraged must be a good place.
Rosh
Posted by: Rosh | April 28, 2011 at 05:16 AM
I can understand when there are some concerns with copyright issues and art museums with modern pieces. However, these days, when museums discourages cameras, they're often turning away some great PR opportunities with so many people blogging and using SM to document their travels. Camera policies sometimes determine where I do, and do not go (and cover with stories here).
As you can tell, we had great weather the day we visited the Gilmore. Lighting inside of the buildings can make photographing problematic with a hand-held camera, but it's definitely a place you should visit with your camera!
Posted by: Dominique King | April 28, 2011 at 06:17 AM