National Motorcycle Museum Closing

[Ray]

The Moto Museum of St. Louis rents out for events. 
Lots of ways to make money on one's museum - if one doesn't get old and tired of fending off big money offers for key holdings. 
I can see where folks would might lose interest after a while. 

https://www.themotomuseum.com/book-an-event

From what the owner of the local BMW shop (Gateway BMW) told me a few months ago, that Moto Museum is a tax write-off to the wealthy owner who also owns the adjoining dealership. It's easier to run a place when it doesn't have to pay for itself.

Entirely correct. Steve Smith also owns the motorcycle-themed Triumph Grill. Trust me - he's wealthy for a reason. In the end, he's not losing money and he's not going to close the museum. 

Here's an old Business Journal article on his source of funding, followed by a review - a progress report if you will, of the museum complex in Feb. 2020 - right before the pandemic. Lots of photos in the second link. 

https://www.bizjournals.com/stlouis/stor...ory10.html

http://stlouismuseums.blogspot.com/2020/...useum.html

I don't know him personally, but I like what Steve Smith did. This dealership (Ducati/Triumph/KTM - some of my favorite machinery) helped redevelop a part of the city - not too far from where Bob O'Dell's motorrad shop was located 30 y ago.

On the other hand, Honz and Gateway have chosen to contribute to the urban sprawl - and although I like the location and most of the design of his new warehouse-dealership - it's now a destination, and no longer a place where folks can stop in for a wiff of gasoline and rubber and coffee and doughnuts on the way to other shops on a Saturday morning. (It's also on a flood plain and not too far from where the old national MOA offices got flooded out in '93.) That said, there's some great roads out there for any of you that want to ride a new demo or used bike.

Both shops are worth a trip to form one's own opinion.