Harley-Davidson Museum
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| Established | July 12, 2008 |
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| Location | Milwaukee, Wisconsin |
| Coordinates | 43°01′52″N 87°54′58″W / 43.031°N 87.916°WCoordinates: 43°01′52″N 87°54′58″W / 43.031°N 87.916°W |
| Type | Transport museum |
| Collection size | Harley-Davidson motorcycle and artifacts |
| Visitors | Est. 300,000 visitors in 2008 |
| Website | www |
The Harley-Davidson Museum is a North American museum near downtown, Milwaukee, Wisconsin celebrating the more than 100-year history of Harley-Davidson motorcycles. The 130,000-square-foot (12,000 m2) three building complex on 20 acres (81,000 m2) along the Menomonee River bank contains more than 450 Harley-Davidson motorcycles and hundreds of thousands of artifacts from the Harley-Davidson Motor Company's 110-year history. The museum attracts an estimated 300,000 visitors annually.
The museum opened to the public on July 12, 2008, on a 20 acres (81,000 m2) site in the Menomonee Valley. The museum was built in an historically industrial area of Milwaukee. Prior to Harley-Davidson's purchase of the land from the city, the site was formerly used by the Milwaukee Department of Public Works, Lakeshore Sand Company, and Morton Salt. A 4 feet (1.2 m) layer of imported soil was added to combat the contaminated soil. New vegetation was planted to restore the landscape to its riparian state.
In late February 2006, designs for the museum were unveiled. The designs were created by James Biber, a partner at Pentagram, his team, and Michael Zweck-Bonner, an associate at Pentagram. Abbott Miller, a partner at Pentagram, designed the museum's permanent exhibitions. The firm designed the museum over a period of eight years.
On June 1, 2006, Harley-Davidson began the construction of the $75 million complex with a groundbreaking ceremony that included legendary Harley-Davidson dirt track motorcycle racer, Scott Parker, breaking ground by doing a burnout with a Harley-Davidson XL883R Sportster, instead of with the traditional golden shovel. The site includes parking spaces for 1,000 motorcycles and 500 cars. The Museum's facade also features a 17-foot (5.2 m)-tall, steel Harley-Davidson sign.
The museum’s galleries permanent exhibitions, spread throughout two floors, in addition to temporary exhibits and the motor company’s archives. The complex also includes a restaurant, café, retail shop, and special event spaces.
Also on display are historic Harley-Davidson items that tell the company's story and history, such as photographs, posters, advertisements, clothes, trophies, video footage of vintage and contemporary motorcycling, and interactive exhibits, including 10 motorcycles that visitors can sit on.
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Wikipedia