New 'Spirit of Ford' Guest Center to Open in Spring 1999
14 September 1997
New 'Spirit of Ford' Guest Center to Open in Spring 1999
DEARBORN, Mich., Sept. 14 -- Ford Motor Company
will open a high-tech, interactive guest center that includes a "virtual"
plant tour and offers visitors a behind-the-scenes look at how it designs,
engineers, tests and manufacturers cars and trucks today and into the future.
"Spirit of Ford" is scheduled to open to the public in May of 1999.
The 50,000-square-foot Spirit of Ford will be located on Village Road,
directly across the street from and within walking distance of Henry Ford
Museum and Greenfield Village and the new Automotive Hall of Fame. The
proximity to Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village, which combined draw
1.1 million each year, is expected to provide a steady stream of visitors
through the new Ford corporate attraction.
"The new Spirit of Ford guest center will be educational -- but loaded
with innovation, too," said corporate history manager Annette Wisne Green.
"We've hired the designers of Sea World and Busch Gardens to translate both
the everyday and futuristic workings of the automotive world into a dramatic,
interactive experience. Our goal is to create a dynamic impression of Ford's
achievements in quality, design, safety, engineering, manufacturing and
customer satisfaction."
The opening of Spirit of Ford will be the first step as Ford heads toward
celebrating its centennial on June 17, 2003.
The Spirit of Ford will offer a high-tech, interactive automotive
experience most akin to modern science centers. Its major attractions will
include:
A Virtual Manufacturing Tour, where visitors experience a multi-sensory
attraction inside a theater that includes a 50-foot long projection screen and
specially designed seating to help link visitors to the action around them. A
Virtual Design Studio, where visitors get a behind-the-scenes glimpse of the
most advanced automotive design techniques.
A "showcase on wheels" highlighting current and future products in a one-
of-a-kind display designed to intrigue not only car buffs but casual
observers.
An Engineering center showing today's and tomorrow's engineering systems,
techniques, and innovations.
And Ford Link, a video wall that will continuously display information
about the world of Ford.
In developing plans for the new attraction, Ford benchmarked other
companies -- including Coca Cola, Nike and Sony -- who have created similar
corporate showcases. "America's love affair with the automobile is still
going strong. Ford's history and heritage are legendary. Combined, these
make a very potent recipe for a corporate attraction ... Ford customers ...
car nuts and history buffs ... school kids and business students -- we're
hoping to appeal to them all," Green said. "A terrific location will help."
The new Spirit of Ford will form the southern-most tip of a triangle with
Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village to the north and east, and the
Automotive Hall of Fame to the north and west. All within close walking
distance, these four unique locations will create an unprecedented educational
opportunity for visitors from around the world.
Each of the sites will offer a distinctly different perspective and
educational experience.
The Spirit of Ford will be high-tech and interactive. Henry Ford Museum
celebrates the spirit of American innovation. Greenfield Village brings to
life the resourcefulness of early Americans through historic demonstrations
and reenactments. And the Automotive Hall of Fame is a tribute to the auto
industry's founders. The four facilities will collaborate on marketing and
promotion as a premiere travel location.
The signature oval-shaped exterior design of the Spirit of Ford, while
contemporary, will be reminiscent of Ford's renowned "Rotunda." That famous
visitors' center, constructed for the 1933-34 Chicago World's Fair, was
subsequently used as a Ford office building in Dearborn, then renovated for
public tours in 1953. It hosted more than 1 million visitors each year until
it was destroyed in a fire in 1962.
Site clearing for the new Ford facility is expected to start in October.
All major construction should be completed by year-end 1998. Ford is planning
to open the Spirit of Ford at the company's annual shareholder meeting in May
1999.
While Busch Creative Services will handle design of the exhibits, Peckham
Guyton Albers & Viets, Inc., of St. Louis is responsible for the interior
architecture. Exterior architecture is being designed by Hobbs and Black
Associates, Inc., located in Ann Arbor, Mich. John M. Olson Company, of St.
Clair Shores, will be responsible for construction.
SOURCE Ford Motor Company