It’s official: A museum featuring Pontiac vehicles is scheduled to open July 21 in the Old Square West building in downtown Pontiac, Ill., according to the Bloomington Pantagraph.
The Pontiac City Council approved a contract Monday with Tim Dye of Broken Arrow, Okla., so he could bring his collection of Pontiac and Oakland cars and memorabilia into the city-owned building.
Dye has agreed to a contract that will pay him $65,000 per year to oversee the development of space, provide technical assistance and consulting and develop a series of special events to draw tourists to Pontiac, said City Administrator Bob Karls.
“The advantages of using the Old Square West building are that it has 10,000 square feet, it’s downtown, and it will help attract visitors to the Route 66 Museum as well,” he said.
The city will provide some improvements such as the installation of a sprinkler system, additional lighting and a door big enough to allow vehicles to be moved in and out, Karls said. The city also will assist in transporting some of the collectible items that Dye now stores in three different buildings in Oklahoma.
In return, the city will receive 50 percent of all revenue generated from a gift shop at the museum and 50 percent of what Dye earns a writer and guest speaker at Pontiac car shows and events. The deal will be reviewed in two years.
“We estimate it will cost about $200,000 to get this up and going,” Karls said. “But, we plan to use TIF funds, funds that are in the Old Square West redevelopment fund and we will apply for some grants as well.”
We reported in October of Dye’s intention to move his collection to Pontiac and open a museum there. The story about the impending museum was buried in the middle of a New York Times feature about the Pontiac brand’s demise, and caught the regional media unaware.
UPDATE 1/7/2011: Here’s a photo of the building that will be used for the museum. The address is 205 N. Mill St.:
(Photo courtesy of Pontiac Tourism)