Doug Novak

Technically the Club is not now in danger of being dragged down with the Museum if it should fail. Realistically, I seriously doubt that the continued success of both the Club and Museum are in any kind of danger. The worst thing that the Museum could suffer from would be if "Hershey Attractions" went belly up, and that's not going to happen. Millions of people and families come to the Hershey Amusement Park , Chocolate World, Giant Stadium, and many other venues for vacation driven entertainment and the Museum attracts visitors looking for other things to do. Events such as The Fall East Coast Nation Meet, The Elegance, The Porsche Club Swap Meet, and many other Car Clubs, use the Museum for Shows and as a place to gather for the start of Touring events. Hershey is a perfect location for the AACA Museum. I do agree with what I think you're feeling, and think I'd interpret it as meaning the Clubs desire to a Merger has become counter productive in our moving on in the direction we need to go right now.

Just opening another can of worms we don't need right now, nor would it accomplish anything other then broadening the distance between the Club and Museum. We all get that we a two separate entities regardless, but the General Public would not understand why we would demand a name change. The Museum exists because of the Club and should be thought of as our Museum regardless of who's running it. Leave our name on it.

I have to say I agree with Bob, it's time to move on. I do find the whole string of posts, and string of events, to be interesting, but don't see it resolving things. Not much more to be said about it. Time to stop the Blame Game, what ever happens next won't really change the good things we all get out of being Members of the Club. The Museum isn't going to suffer much from it either, which is OK as far as I'm concerned, and the Club will get a New HQ, Library and Research Center bigger and better, no doubt about it. Everything else is water under the bridge. It's a new day.

Hmmm......no response, I guess that answers my questions.

Hope in the end everything works out for all, but are we possibly spinning our wheels? Do we have an alternate direction to follow which can also indicate what can be done to establish a new HQ, Library and Research Facility, with potential Cost to Build, and a time line, somewhere other then the Museum Grounds? Worst case, what happens if we put the expansion on the back burner, stay put and possibly have a remote location near the existing HQ, for ware housing the over flow donations which could be cataloged and retrievable upon request? To have an alternate plan might help relax the the current situation knowing life can go on with out the Museum's involvement. It might be more cost effective as well. Just something to think about.

I went back into the Hemmings Forum and added the information that the Land offer from the Museum to AACA National was not "for free" in that there were monetary conditions attached to the offer that AACA would have to agree to.

Hi I'm jumping in for the first time but have been following and contributing to the Blog on Hemmings about this subject. Here is what I want to mention here. I learned that the Museum offered, at no cost to the Club, 3 Acres of land next to the AACA Museum 3 months ago, as a sight for a new HQ, Library and Research Center. Doesn’t it seem that under the current situation, that if the offer still stands, why not accept the Land offer and start planning the move to the Property next to the Museum? The new HQ, Library and Research Center next to the Museum, and where AACA Hershey Region’s Club building already exists, would form a huge Campus environment that sounds fantastic. The other issues should be secondary and addressed later, or it will be difficult to move forward with resolving the original problem, which is the Headquarters, Library and Research Center are out of room needs to move. The original AACA HQ Building looks to be a valuable asset and if sold could pay towards the cost of the new Building. Am I the only one seeing this opportunity? Doug Novak, New Freedom, Pa. Update: the Land offer from the Museum to AACA National was not "for free" in that there were monetary conditions attached to the offer that AACA would have to agree to. HQ, months ago