IMS Museum making progress on $89M makeover
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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowWhat for decades has served as the hub for education and information about the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the Indianapolis 500 is undergoing a major makeover that stands to make it one of the most visited sites in Indiana.
Work is underway on the $89 million renovation of the IMS Museum, plans for which were first announced last July. While updates to the nearly 40-year-old building’s exterior—including new windows and a new front façade—are complete, the building’s interior still has a long way to go.
IMS Museum President Joe Hale gave Around INdiana Reporter Mary-Rachel Redman a tour of the work being done in our Business at the Brickyard series.
“In the past, you kind of walked in and you saw everything. Now you follow a path; you follow a storyline,” Hale said.
The overhaul of the nearly 40,000-square-foot museum—which will include a fully remodeled interior with a new mezzanine level and separate exhibit spaces, along with an educational area—is the first since the venue opened in 1976.
One of the exhibit spaces is Gasoline Alley, which will have seven garages representing different eras of the 500.
“You’ll see the evolution of design [and] technology as you walk down, and then you go to the starting line, what it’s like to be on the starting line race morning, the smells, the sights, the sounds that go on that morning,” said Hale. “And then from there, you go into our winners gallery with our 34 winning cars.”
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The museum is updating its basement exhibit spaces as well, with several interactive activities for adults and children, Hale said.
“You’ll go through a long hallway and feel wind on your face and hear the cars going by at 230 miles an hour,” he said. “There’s going to be a dissected car taken apart and show that how they come together. There’s going to be seven different simulators [where] you can actually driving the 500, some for kids, some for adults.”
But perhaps the most important piece of the entire renovation is a dedicated focus on education. The museum will feature a unique, hands-on STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art, and mathematics) classroom exposing students of all ages to potential careers in the motorsports industry.
“This new STEAM classroom that we’re going to have that can can can illustrate and educate kids on the wonderful job opportunities that are right here in Indianapolis now,” said Hale. “So we’re really excited about having education as kind of a keystone of what we’re doing here.”
Museum officials say the renovations are expected to be complete by next April.