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EYE ON THE INDUSTRY

KARTING MUSEUM AND HALL OF FAME
Opinion by Darrell Sitarz, Editor e-KMI.com

In the last few weeks there has been some discussion on the Internet about building an International Karting Museum and Hall of Fame. After reading a few of the postings I felt it was time to replay. The following is my posting on the subject.
I have been around this sport for a long, long time (1968) and am a history buff. I've also been contemplating a karting museum for at least 10 years, maybe more. Why? Because I see much of the history of the sport being lost to the ravages of time; The deaths of the pioneers who lived the history - old karts, magazines, engines, parts being lost or destroyed, etc.
I've toured many automotive museums around the county, done a ton of research, talked to many curators, and have come to a number of conclusions regarding a karting museum.
In my opinion, an International Karting Museum/Hall of Fame must:
1) Be an organized, not-for-profit (501c3) federal corporation, not a "non-profit" kart club-type operation. There is a vast difference and many benefits to becoming a 501c3 NFP corporation including federal and state grants, etc., postage benefits and more - we'll get into "funding" later.
2) It needs to be organized with a complete Board of Directors preferably from outside of the karting industry. Why? Because racers are NOT museum curators.
3) Land will need to be purchased/leased, a building designed, and built, and stocked with equipment, etc. Hugely expensive!
4) It must be a stand-alone facility - not part of another museum - or it will never be recognized for what it is. How many people know the WKA HOF is in Talladega?
5) To be profitable or at least sustain itself, it needs to be in a location to attract visitors. It's a lovely idea to have it near where Art Ingels built the first kart, but that may not be the overall best location. Common sense rather than emotion needs to come into play when selecting a site.
(And remember: karting or go-karting means all of the sport: racing, fun, concession and indoor - not just the racing aspect that we see here on this forum. Now, how large is the museum going to be?)
6) The right people must be hired (you know, paid) to gather display materials (karts, engines, printed matter, film/video, etc.), catalog and organized it, build displays, etc. This is a very, very expensive project. And who will do the work? Volunteers are okay for a while, but that will wear thin very quickly.
AND FINALLY...
7) Funding - A quality museum in this day and age is very, very costly - I estimate that it would take a minimum of $1 million (perhaps $2 million) to buy/lease land, design/build a building and stock it with quality displays and videos, insure the contents, provide staff to maintain the property; i.e. to build something the industry can be proud of. And where is the money going to come from? The associations? Donations? A Pit Pass Tax? Federal/State Grants? Unless someone leaves a ton of money in their will or we find it under a rock - in my estimation, there is no realistic way to fund a project of this magnitude and scope and to do it properly in the near future. It will take years to gather funding - all the while, more history is lost. It's a two edged sword - damned if you do, damned if you don't.
I, more than anyone, would love to see an International Karting Museum and HOF, but as it stands now, I realistically don't see it happening, at least not in the near future.
Please don't get me wrong - I am all for the concept of a Karting Museum and HOF, but we need to be realistic about what we're talking about here. You just don't have a warehouse full of old karts, boxes of magazines, a few old pictures and call it a museum - at least I don't.
Yes, the karting industry needs, more importantly, deserves a museum but it will take a huge influx of cash and someone willing to do the work to get it done, and I just don't see it happening - at least right now. But I guess it doesn't hurt to dream!
Like Thomas Edison said," I have not failed; I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work."
There may be a way for karting to have its museum; we just haven't found it yet.
Editorial note: If you have any comments, suggestions or a large pile of money lying around you’d like to donate, please contact me at karting@msn.com. A ten pound box of $100s will do nicely, at least to start. – Darrell Sitarz

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