On June 1, 2006, over 500 executives, employees and Harley riders joined local officials to celebrate the beginning phase of construction of the new motorcycle museum. Departing from tradition, the chrome shovels were temporarily put aside in favor of dirt track racer Scott Parker’s Sportster. After all, what better way to kick up the dirt than a spinning motorcycle tire?
It was a festive mood that greeted the many dignitaries on hand, including a number of the original 13 man buy-back team that purchased Harley-Davidson from AMF back in June of 1981. Among those risk takers on hand for the ground breaking was Jeffrey Bleustein, Tim Hoelter, Dave Caruso, Vaughn Beals and Willie G. Davidson.
Wisconsin Governor James Doyle, Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett and Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker congratulated Harley-Davidson and the various planning boards and city officials that helped make this dream a reality.
The museum complex is a $95 million project which is scheduled to be completed in 2008. Besides the museum, there will be a restaurant, café, gift shop and special event space. The site is just south of the downtown Milwaukee area on 20 acres of land at 6th and Canal Streets. The museum will be a 130,000 square foot facility, employing 70 full time workers. In addition to the museum complex, additional buildings totaling 100,000 square feet will contain offices for Harley-Davidson. The expected 350,000 annual visitors will spend about $39 million a year in hotel, food, fuel and other associated costs, adding to the economy of the ever developing downtown area.
A very special gift was bestowed upon everyone taking part in the ground breaking event. Each person was given a small vial and invited to scoop up some of the “sacred” ground as a memento of the occasion. Leading this activity were Willie G. and Nancy Davidson and their family.
The archives at the Juneau Plant house most of the current collection, which includes the oldest Harley-Davidson motorcycle in existence, serial number 1. Also at the archives are numerous vintage race bikes, motorcycles from movies and several of the Nova experimental water-cooled motorcycles that Harley collaborated with Porsche on. There are truly some unique items in the archives, most of which have only been seen by a select few. Hopefully, many of these will be permanently placed in the new museum when it’s completed.
