Sarasota car museum being forced to relocate by New College of Florida
SARASOTA, Fla. - Stepping into The Sarasota Classic Car Museum is taking a step back into time.
You can find John Ringling’s Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost and more than 150 other cars.
The museum has been a part of Sarasota’s history for 70 years.
The Sarasota Classic Car Museum first opened in 1953.
Martin Godbey and his son now own and run the non-profit museum.
"I came through here as a young kid, the family came through. Who would have thought all these years later. I’ve always remembered it, when I moved to Sarasota some 40 years ago it’s one of the first places I stopped," said Martin Godbey.
The museum opened in 1953 by the Horn’s brothers as Cars of Yesterday.
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Aside from the Henry Ford Museum, Martin Godbey said the museum is the oldest continuously operated car museum in the United States.
"It’s history with its own history," he said.
But, that history is changing. New College of Florida owns the land the museum sits on.
Cars of Yesterday was the original name of the museum when it first opened.
The family said they received a letter from New College, canceling their lease and telling them to move everything out by the end of June.
"You call that an impossibility, there are 150 cars here with exhibits and bits and pieces. The guys have counted 3,000 pieces to be moved," said Martin Godbey.
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New College of Florida said in a statement to FOX 13, "New College terminated the month-to-month occupation of the New College Property by the Car Museum due to the record growth of the incoming class."
Plans from a June 1 board meeting show the museum would be retrofitted to house employee offices currently in buildings that will be demolished.
The Classic Car Museum would eventually become an athletics gym.
The New College of Florida is forcing the family run business to relocate by the end of June.
The Godbey family is asking for additional time to prepare for the move.
"It’s impossible to move everything in the time frame that’s been given. A lot of these things are very expensive or one-offs, you have to treat them lightly. Almost like a white glove treatment in one thing," said Blake Godbey.
Blake Godbey said the move could cost upwards of $100,000 and finding a space to move isn’t an easy task in today’s market.
"I’m not trying to have a fight with somebody. I’m trying to preserve what we have forever. There are people that have been coming here for generations and generations. We want to keep that. I want to keep showing that. I want to keep doing it," explained Blake Godbey.
The Godbey family plans to keep the museum going wherever they have to move to keep a part of Sarasota’s history around for future generations.
"We don’t want to lose this museum. This is part of Sarasota’s history, and we will continue that on," said Blake Godbey.
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