Boyertown Museum of Historic Vehicles to Unveil Gallery 2

by Kenda Cook, Executive Director

Boyertown, PA – The Boyertown Museum of Historic Vehicles will be debuting its newly renovated Gallery 2 building on Friday, November 13 with a unique ribbon-cutting ceremony. Formerly the Museum’s closed-to-the-public warehouse building, Gallery 2 has undergone a multifaceted, years-long renovation. The entire building has been transformed, and is filled to the brim with vehicles quietly waiting behind its doors. Many of these vehicles have been in storage for decades, and others are new additions to the collection that have not yet been seen by the public. Mixed in with these long hidden gems will be some familiar faces to longtime regular visitors.

The debut of Gallery 2 will begin at 5pm on November 13 with remarks by Museum representatives and VIPs. A truly unique ribbon cutting will follow to officially open Gallery 2. Attendees will be able to see the transformed building, which originally served as the paint shop for the Boyertown Auto Body Works, and all the amazing vehicles on display. Light refreshments will be offered. Gallery 2 will officially open as part of the Museum experience on Saturday, November 14 during our regular hours of 9:30am-4pm.

The opening of this second building on the Boyertown Museum campus demonstrates the Museum’s continued commitment to showcase Pennsylvania’s transportation history. One of the exciting new features in Gallery 2 is the new bicycle shop—renowned custom bicycle builder Harry Havnoonian recently retired and moved his entire shop from Media, Pennsylvania into Gallery 2. Harry has built countless custom bicycles over the years, and they have gone on to win over 100 National Championships, seven World Cups, set an hour record, and win a Silver Medal at the Athens Olympics. But this machinery will not be a static exhibit—they, along witha dozen of Havnoonian custom bikes and pieces of memorabilia, will be used by Harry himself to conduct demonstrations and bicycle building seminars for our visitors. Harry Havnoonian will be joining us for the ribbon cutting event on Friday evening, and will be conducting demonstrations from 11am-4pm on both Saturday and Sunday (November 14 and 15) of our Opening Weekend.

Joining us for Opening Weekend will be a very special ‘guest’—the extremely popular Back to the Future tribute car built by Tom Silknitter. This exact replica of the DeLorean time machine was on special exhibit at the Museum in the Summer of 2023, and it will be returning for display in Gallery 2 for our ribbon cutting ceremony on November 13 and for our entire Opening Weekend.  Mr. Silknitter’s remarkable attention to detail and in-depth research in recreating this iconic vehicle made it a huge hit at the Boyertown Museum three years ago, and we are thrilled to have the car back to help us usher in this exciting new phase in the Boyertown Museum’s life.

On Saturday, November 14, the grand opening festivities continue with a DJ, door prizes, bicycle building demonstrations, and a 1980s costume contest to coincide with our display of the Back to the Future tribute car. The new Gallery 2 building will be a part of the Museum campus and included in the Museum’s regular contribution rates. 

The Boyertown Museum of Historic Vehicles is a 501c3 nonprofit organization founded in 1965 by Paul and Erminie Hafer. The Museum, located at 85 South Walnut Street in Boyertown, Pennsylvania, preserves and displays examples of Pennsylvania's road transportation history in the former factory buildings of the Boyertown Auto Body Works. Over ninety locally manufactured cars, trucks, carriages, bicycles, and motorcycles are on display, as well as three examples of roadside architecture--a 1920s tourist cabin, a 1921 cottage style Sunoco gas station, and a 1938 Jerry O'Mahony diner. The Museum is open seven days a week, 9:30am-4pm. For more information, call 610-367-2090 or visit www.boyertownmuseum.org.

Boyertown Museum of Historic Vehicles
85 South Walnut Street
Boyertown, PA 19512
610-367-2090
Facebook: Boyertown.Museum
Instagram: boyertown_museum
www.boyertownmuseum.org

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