Second life for Kearney museum
Kearney Museum Reopens after Classic Car Collection nearly sold before its eventual salvation.
With a new lease on life, the Classic Car Collection has reopened in Kearney, Neb. The public is able to continue touring the museum with its more than 200 vehicles and exhibits covering more than a century of automobile history, according to Brad Kernick, president of the museum board of directors. The museum is open from 12 to 5 p.m. Thursdays through Sundays.
The museum’s future was precarious before it closed for two months during the winter due to COVID-19 restraints.
“We had been under financial strain for some time,” Kernick said. “The board had discussed closing the museum and, reluctantly, selling the collection through an auction.”
Instead, he announced April 2 that the Classic Car Collection was sold to VeriQuest, Ltd. and will remain open. A spokesman for VeriQuest said, “We are working on a plan to ensure that the collection is sustainable.”
Kernick said that VeriQuest’s owners “were intrigued that an automobile collection of this caliber exists in Kearney when they visited last year.”
Situated on historic U.S. Hwy. 30 and three miles off of I-80 in central Nebraska, the museum was established in 2011 when Bernie and Janice Taulborg donated most of their collection. Their 131 antique cars heavily favored pre-war models of rarely seen makes such as Locomobile, Pierce-Arrow, Moon, Gardner, Maxwell, Jewett, Gray and Metz, as well as popular brands including Packard, Cadillac, Buick and Chrysler.
Many additional vehicles obtained from other donors and on loan represent stylish 1950s models such as the 1957 Mercury Turnpike Cruiser, plus 1960s muscle cars, sports cars and others. “Pete’s Patriot,” a 1969 AMX Super Stock drag racer built and sponsored by the local Peterson Motor Co., is spending its retirement here on the museum floor.
Further information on the collection can be found at www.ccckearney.com.
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