Love cars? Part of Graffiti museum in Modesto could get first visitors this summer
The public could get its first glimpse Aug. 8 inside the Graffiti USA Classic Car Museum, honoring a notable part of Modesto history.
Leaders in the effort made that tentative promise during a Tuesday afternoon tour of the site. The date assumes that California will continue to phase out of COVID-19 restrictions on public gatherings.
The opening would not mean regular hours yet, which could happen by the fall. Rather, that day would provide people a chance to see the initial car collection, along with mock-ups of future phases.
And the place would be used for some of this year’s Graffiti Summer events, bumped from June to August by the pandemic.
“We will have an experience here of some sort to welcome people for Graffiti Summer,” museum board member Chris Murphy said.
The museum will be created inside a former seed warehouse at North Ninth Street and Coldwell Avenue. It eventually will have an operating diner, a working hot-rod shop and a banquet space for 700 people.
The museum will celebrate the cruising and racing that Modesto native George Lucas chronicled in his 1973 movie, “American Graffiti.” It was set in and near downtown on a summer night in 1962.
The planners provided the update during a tour for Rep. Josh Harder, D-Turlock. They also discussed progress toward their $4.2 million fundraising goal.
Twin buildings date to 1920s
The museum will spread across about 40,000 square feet in two connected buildings. They date to the 1920s and long were used by the Lyng family to store seed. Warden’s later leased the space for office furniture sales before moving to north Modesto in 2019.
Graffiti fans have kicked around the museum idea for decades. The project got traction with the January 2020 announcement that the site purchase was under negotiation. The board closed the deal about eight months later.
The first phase requires the addition of wheelchair-accessible restrooms, which could be portable toilets for the Aug. 8 event. The building also needs heating and air conditioning, but high-powered fans will have to do that day.
The museum will have a paid director at some point but rely on volunteers for most of the operation. The income will come from entry fees, memberships, donations, the gift shop and rental of the banquet space.
The board already is getting inquires about renting out the site, said Murphy, who is co-owner of Sierra Pacific Warehouse Group. It could be used for weddings, concerts, conferences and other purposes.
Working diner and hot-rod shop
The museum eventually will have a diner modeled on the old Burge’s Drive-In downtown. Space will not allow an actual drive-in, but the decor will take patrons back to ‘62.
The hot-rod shop is inspired by legendary car designer Gene Winfield, who once worked out of a nearby Tully Road building.
Automotive students at Modesto Junior College might learn in the shop. Culinary students at MJC and other schools could staff the diner.
Another space will have a small-scale drive-in theater, where visitors could watch “American Graffiti” and related films. Yet another area will re-create storefronts on 10th and 11th streets, when they were the retail heart of the city.
The place will have a record store, as well as a physical location for the Modesto Radio Museum, now entirely online. Current local businesses could pay to have small replicas of themselves installed.
Still seeking donations and labor
The $4.2 million fundraising goal includes renovation costs and an endowment to help cover future operating expenses.
The board has received about $375,000 in donated goods and services. Supporters can donate online at www.graffitiusamuseum.com.
The project also got $500,000 last week from federal COVID-19 relief money provided to the city of Modesto. The council put a total of $22.9 million toward a wide range of functions, including small business support, homelessness, parks and public safety.
The Graffiti project was in the same category as the planned Modesto Children’s Museum and Awesome Spot Playground for disabled and other kids. They too got $500,000 each.
‘Really unique heritage’
Harder viewed the vehicles on display under the 20-foot ceilings, dating from the early 1920s to the late 1960s.
He said the museum would counter outsider images of the Modesto area that are based on “the worst headlines about who we are.”
“This is an effort to really change the story and to show part of the really unique heritage that we have,” he said.
The site already has become a meeting place for the Kiwanis Club of North Modesto, sponsor of the annual American Graffiti Festival and Car Show.
This story was originally published June 3, 2021 at 4:00 AM.
