‘Auto Museum’ Planned For Charlotte

CHARLOTTE, N.C.--Plans have been announced to build an elaborate Arts and Sciences Museum “with a distinct auto and racing flavor” to be located near Charlotte’s financial district by the trolley line. However an exact location has not yet been named.

Bruton Smith, chairman of Speedway Motorsports and Sonic Automotive Inc., says he will head a committee to build a $200 million dollar museum that will attract 1.5 million visitors here each year. “It will be a landmark that supercedes any other and lives well into the next millennium,” says Smith.

“We want the world's greatest architects to be part of the selection process. We want to create an architectural icon that people from all over the world will want to see,” Smith says.

Although Omni, a Charlotte architectural firm, has produced a conceptual rendering for the Arts and Sciences Museum, the search for the architect to build the museum will be widespread. One name that has come up as a possible candidate is that of Frank Gehry, a world-renowned architect whose works include Seattle’s Experience Music Project and the Guggenheim of Bilbao, Spain.

Charlotte city leaders, including Mayor Pat McCrory, are expressing support for the museum--which will be built solely on private funding. “The City of Charlotte has earned a reputation for being a ‘world class’ city,” says McCrory. “We now need to find more architects and developers who are visionary to help build and design our city to retain and expand our fine reputation.”

Smith says the museum will not serve as solely an automotive museum, but rather as a cultural and educational experience that encompasses the arts and sciences of the region including the textile industry. “Certainly, the automotive industry would have a leading role in this museum and would serve, in part, to educate the public on the past, present and future of the automobile and racing industry, but that would only be part of it. We want any industry that has to do with arts and sciences to be included in this important project.”

Hugh McColl, chairman of Bank of America and a Charlotte city leader involved with the development of the Charlotte Uptown, agrees the project would be a great addition to the city. McColl says, “I would be in favor of anything that educates the public on the past, present and future of the automobile and our regional interests.”

Smith says he hopes the project can be completed before the beginning of 2003. He says a committee formed under the auspices of Center City Partners will flesh out the details, including the selection of an architect. The committee will also collaborate with the city, the Charlotte Chamber of Commerce and the Charlotte Convention and Visitor’s Bureau.