Museum Receives Grant to Restore Historic Showroom

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A matching challenge grant will be used to spur more funding to help restore the historic former Auburn Automobile Company showroom at the Auburn Cord Duesenberg Automobile Museum. The showroom is on the National Register of Historic Places and has been referred as "12,000 feet of Art Deco splendor." The Jeffris Family Foundation of Janesville, Wisconsin has offered a $420,000 matching challenge grant, which requires a 2 to 1 match within three years.

Fundraising to meet the $840,000 match will be included in the museum’s $5 million capital campaign that includes work to seal the building. A 2016 Historic Structure report, partially funded by Jeffris, found nearly $10 million in needed work, with half of it needed urgently. “We are anxious to secure funding to save the Auburn Automobile Company building, built in 1929, from deterioration and damage caused by a leaking roof and windows. Once the building envelope is sealed, we will concentrate on restoration of the luxurious showroom,’ said museum Executive Director Laura Brinkman. 

The museum houses over 120 vintage automobiles displayed alongside other automotive-related exhibits.