The National Roller Coaster Museum Builds Repository

[Meteornotes]

As spotted on Amusement Today:

 

There’s no place like home. The National Roller Coaster Museum (NRCMA) recently completed construction of a new building to house a sizeable portion of its growing collection of amusement industry artifacts including roller coaster cars, designs, signs and other memorabilia.

 

The 16-foot high, 2,400 square foot expandable facility, located in Plainview, Texas, was built on a one-acre plot. Larson International donated the land and the labor to get the building erected in record time including the concrete slab and driveways.

 

“Thanks to the hard work and donations of ride manufacturer Larson International, the NRCMA has its first building that it can call its own,” NRCMA Board Chairman Gary Slade said. “Without Jeff Novotny’s leadership at Larson and on the NRCMA board, there is no way this project would have been completed this quickly. He is creating the opportunity for all our dreams to become a reality.”

 

The building design called for a key element and artifact in the museum’s collection to adorn the building as a portal into history. The toothy grinned, freckled -faced teenager that greeted millions of riders at Astroworld’s Texas Cyclone will now serve as the entry at the new NRCMA building. Inside, the most precious pieces of the collection will be catalogued and stored as they are readied for public display in the future.

 

“This is a wonderful step for the new board,” Richard Munch, historian and NRCMA board member said. “Jeff Novotny’s support of this process has been truly remarkable. He realized it was important to keep this material secure and protected and this new building allows the board to consolidate its collections that are presently stored in multiple leased sites. The board will finally get to work on the collection in a more organized way.”

 

“We would like to see the museum make its next logical steps but we need help from the industry and from parks to make it happen,” Slade said. “We continue to secure incredible treasures of our industry’s past while continuing our mission of bringing this history to the public.”

 

In the coming weeks, the NRCMA is also launching its new online home: www.rollercoastermuseum.org a repository of photographs and memories from multiple historians and from the NRCMA archives. It will eventually make its entire collection available in an on-line virtual museum. Plans are in the works to construct traveling exhibits, and the ultimate goal is to build a physical museum with the help of the amusement industry and its supporters.

 

I'll be honest, I have been one of the biggest critics of this project, but I think breaking away from ACE might actually get this thing built. This is certainly a step in the right direction.

 

dt

[BeemerBoy]

located in Plainview, Texas

 

Which one?

 

 

And either way, really....Plainview, TX? I still think this idea is pointless.

[RCFreak]

It said the site is at Larson International's land which is at Plainview, TX 79072.

[BeemerBoy]

^ Ah yes. Still, I'd rather see individual parks house their own small museums dedicated to their past, rather than spend a side trip for something like this.

 

 

And plus, it can't compete with Shane's Amusement Attic anyway.

[thrillerman1]

Jeff from Larson is awesome. He allowed me to tour their warehouse a few years ago and they've got some killer stuff! Nice to see this come to fruition.

[ginzo]

^ Ah yes. Still, I'd rather see individual parks house their own small museums dedicated to their past, rather than spend a side trip for something like this.

 

Or put it near a good park that many people visit anyway.

[larrygator]

^If you build, it they will come.

[ebl]

SFMM already has an on-site museum of their own stuff---385 feet above the top of the mountain in the Sky Tower.

 

Eric