Hudson Museum in Shipshewana

[Deleted User]

It is with a heavy heart that I report that the Hudson Museum in Shipshewana Indiana has closed. I heard this from a VERY reliable source who was a very active member of the museum staff. I don't know how many of you have been there, but it was a MUST for all Hudson enthusiasts. So, if you were planning on going to the Hudson Homecoming this May, you will have to change your plans and cancel any hotel reservations you might have made.

I think the national Hudson club MUST do something about this and get the museum re-opened in all it's glory.

oldhudsons

well that's strictly Eldon's call.
What I'd like to know is if he has set up some sort of trust to perpetuate the museum for when he passes! I know he has a large family & unless he has provided the proper legal framework they may choose to get rid of the cars.
Probably the greatest collection, in number & quality, was Bill Harrah's. He died unexpectedly & DID NOT provide for the Collection. His heirs just wanted $$$$ so sold the casinos & all his property, which inc. the Collection, to Holiday Inn who then (I was told they didn't even know about or care about it) peddled off a lot of the cars to redeem some of the $ they'd put out to buy Harrah's. At the time he died the Harrah's Automobile Collection was the greatest tourist attraction in the state of Nevada - eventually the state stepped in & stopped more sales, but "the horse was out of the barn" leaving the rump of the collection there, called the National Museum or something like that.

Browniepetersen

Just some comments on Bill Harrah. He sold his collection to the hotel company some years before he died. Some of the cars that were displayed as a part of his collection went back to their owners and some went to partners that he had such as the Dusenburgs that ended up in Los Vegas. The remaining cars that were a part of the collection were auctioned off when Holliday Inn did not make their dream of a transportation collection (with the Queen Mary and Spruce Goose) happen.

The cars ended up back where, in my opinion, they should be. Private collectors and people in the hobby bought them. I got one and as long as I had it I loved it. I have a good friend who still has the one he bought. Oh, one other thing, most of the cars in the Reno collection were donated by Bill long before he sold the collection.

Not sure what Eldon will do with his cars but I for one wish him the best and I hope he has the chance to drive them whenever he can.

54SuperWasp

I've heard once that some documents of the Hudson Historical Society might be housed in that Museum. I don't know if there is a large amount, or if it's true. The only thing I'm afraid of, it's loosing precious documents. Hope all is ok on this side. Michel.

SamJ

The National Automobile Museum (The Harrah Collection) is housed in a beautiful purpose-built building in Reno...over 200 cars from the collection, including a couple of Hudsons. Members toured the Museum at the Reno National.

http://automuseum.org/

SamJ

http://automuseum.org/exhibits.html

This is the list of cars they own, including a cool '29 Essex speedabout and a Thomas Flyer in addition to the Hudsons.

Richard E.

I guess that I have to jump in here re: Harrah's Collection. It was not donated before his death. Pete is right, he died with out a will and the corporation was sold to Holiday Corp. The cars were owned by the Harrah's Corp, not by Bill personally. At some point some community spirited folks (not his family) formed the Wm F.Harrah Foundation and talked Holiday Corp into donating 200 of the best cars and the library, whether or not the best cars were donated has always been in dispute. Holiday Corp, which didn't even know that had bought a car collection, reaped a bonanza tax deduction on the donation to the foundation and in fact it was rumored to have cancelled out the taxes due on the sale of the other cars. The National Automobile Museum in Reno, operated by the Wm F. Harrah Foundation is a superb museum & collection with a superb library.

I am sure that Eldon Hostetler is a lot smarter than Bill Harrah,

[Deleted User]

I hope that the Hudson Museum in Shipshewana has contingency plans. I was planning on taking my family there on our way back from the National meet this year. Very sad news.

It looks like there is another thread to this discussion: http://www.classiccar.com/index.php?option=com_kunena&func=view&catid=13&id=158351&Itemid=152

Which states that the Museum is temporarily closed for maintenance. That sounds much better!

[Deleted User]

hudsonsoul wrote:

I hope that the Hudson Museum in Shipshewana has contingency plans. I was planning on taking my family there on our way back from the National meet this year. Very sad news.

It looks like there is another thread to this discussion: http://www.classiccar.com/index.php?option=com_kunena&func=view&catid=13&id=158351&Itemid=152

Which states that the Museum is temporarily closed for maintenance. That sounds much better!

I posted that on the other thread - but that is just what their website currently says. I did try to contact the museum to verify things. But there was no answer - just a link to the voicemail.

Someone closer at hand ought to look into things. I will not be able to make the call again tomorrow, as working out of the office. Maybe someone else can call to see what is going on??

Laurie

hudsontech

I'll start out by saying I could have this wrong, but from what I heard Larry Kennedy pulled the Historical Society files out of the museum a little while back.

Once again - it points out the need for this material to be ditgitized. It may not be original, but the material is preserved. Same goes for private collections. The actions of Bill Harrah's family point out a distressing trend. Kids may admire Dad's cars and whatever else he has, but when it comes down to the bottom line money talks.

Case in point. Where I used to live, in Southern Maine, in the nearby town of Wells, there were numerous family land holdings, some dating back to the early 1700's on a kings grant. Families had held these parcels thru thick and thin - then a generation of gimme, gimme kids got hold of the land and sold it to developers. Kids wanted toys - so they bought the big fancy pickups, fishing boats with big motors, all sorts of stuff. So now their broke, the toys are broke and the land is over-run with development. Sad..

Hudsonly,
Alex Burr
Memphis, TN

Jon B

Let me cautiously and respectfully say, here, that all of this speculation is based upon one posting by someone who was told by a former employee that the museum is closing, and by a message at the Hostetler website stating that the museum is temporarily closed for repairs. I'd say, let's just sit back for the time being, and see what transpires. It's all just hearsay until someone in authority makes a statement.

tbeilke

Here is an article from the Goshen IN. News regarding the Shipshewana Town Center and the Hudson Museum.


Goshen News, Goshen, IN
January 22, 2012
Future of Shipshewana's Town Center in doubt five years after grand opening
By ROGER SCHNEIDER THE GOSHEN NEWS SHIPSHEWANA — I

n 2007 Shipshewana finally had what it had wanted for a long time — a conference center and car museum. Now the goal is to hang on to those attractions.

The Shipshewana Town Center is open, but operating with a smaller staff after the management company hired by the town, Focus Hospitality Services of Sarasota, Fla., walked away from the deal in December. The Shipshewana Town Council is pondering its future.

“We are weighing our options and gathering information right now before we make a decision,” said Town Council member Lynn Bontrager.

Bontrager, like most other town residents, has a financial stake in the tourism trade that the center was designed to enhance. She operates Morton Street Coffee, a small corner shop that on Friday had a few locals tasting the sweets and coffee blends. But when tourism season ramps up in the spring and summer, local merchants like Bontrager rely on that boom to carry them over for the rest of the year.

Town Center

The Town Center was created in 2007 to lure more tourists to Shipshewana, which relies on tourism as its major source of income. Retired industrialist Eldon Hostetler had acquired dozens of historic and elegant Hudson automobiles over his lifetime and wanted to bring them all together for public display. A deal was reached with the Town Council to create the museum to house the collection, which Hostetler donated to the town. The council also created the conference center for the same building.

The center has a large banquet hall that can be subdivided into three rooms. The facility has brought more tourists to town. It has hosted many national and regional gatherings, including an annual quilters convention that draws about 3,500 people to the town each summer.

But the center’s financial health is tied to the success of the adjacent Splash Universe indoor water park and Amish Country Inn.

A $3 surcharge on every ticket sold at the water park is paid to the town to help operate the museum and Town Center. Also, LaGrange County has a 5 percent innkeepers tax. Some of that revenue is given to the town to operate the Town Center.

This symbiotic relationship with Focus Hospitality Services has been working well, as the company has paid its semi-annual allotments to the town, according to Clerk-Treasurer Ruth Ann Downey. In 2011 the company paid the town $191,070.

Museum closed

The Hudson Museum has been closed temporarily, according to Sheryl Kelly, Shipshewana’s town manager. She said the management issue occurred at the same time as a need for replacement of the tile floor in the museum, so the decision was made to close the collection to daily public viewing so the repairs could be made.

“The museum is still open in association with events,” she said.

She said three of the five former staff members have been kept on and are being paid through a “third-party vendor.” Staff at the center said that vendor is Riegsecker Marketplace, which does much business at the center catering special events, including wedding receptions.

“If there is a silver lining in all this, the town is not concerned about making mortgage payments on the building,” Kelly said, adding State Farm holds the mortgage and has been contacted about the change in management. “We are just looking for the transition in how we are going to manage the facility. That is basically what is changing. The commitment has not changed, just the management.”

What has added to the angst in the community is the fact that Focus Hospitality Services owes LaGrange County almost $800,000 in back property taxes. The water park and hotel will be up for its second tax sale this spring. (See accompanying article).

“A lot of people make the mistake that the problems at the hotel mean problems at the convention center and museum and that is not necessarily true,” Kelly said. “We have nothing to gain by their demise. We do everything we can to help them and not hurt them. We want them to be successful in Shipshewana. We would not want to see anything drastic occur to the hotel.”

Attempts to contact Focus Chief Executive Officer Jerry Good were unsuccessful.

[Deleted User]

If you read the whole statement on the museum website .After it say's they are closed it goes on to say's viewing by appointment only. or something to that effect,
Roger

Jon B

Here are the facts, from what I can glean from a local newspaper article which is on line:

The Hostetler Hudson Museum and the Shipshewana Town Center (a sort of convention center which adjoins it) get their operating funds from a surcharge on tickets sold at the Splash Universe water park next door. Also, the Amish Country Inn (a hotel for tourists, also next door) kicks in a 5% innkeepers tax to the town (which also helps toward maintenance of the Hostetler Museum / Shipshewana Town Center building).

All four of these entities had been managed by one company, Focus Hospitality Services of Sarasota, Fla., which provided its services under a contract with the town of Shipshewana.

For reasons not apparent, Focus Hospitality Services walked away from the deal with the town in December. Up to that time, the subsidy arrangement seemed to be working, with $191,070 paid to the town by the company (for upkeep of the building) in 2011.

This has caused the town council to scramble, to figure out what to do next.

"The Hudson Museum has been closed temporarily, according to Sheryl Kelly, Shipshewana’s town manager" (according to the newspaper article). "She said the management issue occurred at the same time as a need for replacement of the tile floor in the museum, so the decision was made to close the collection to daily public viewing so the repairs could be made."

“ 'The museum is still open in association with events', she said."

"She said three of the five former staff members have been kept on and are being paid through a 'third-party vendor'. "

So, what we have is a probable shuffle of management companies with a coincidental temporary closing (until April 1) of the Museum, in order to do maintenance. Anything beyond this is merely speculation.

The newspaper article is here: http://goshennews.com/breakingnews/x1669697722/Future-of-Shipshewanas-Town-Center-in-doubt-five-years-after-grand-opening It bears the rather scary headline, "Future of Shipshewana's Town Center In Doubt", but when you read the whole story you find nothing further to suggest an imminent closure of the Town Center or the Museum.

With all due respect to the fellow who started this thread, those who have reservations to attend the Hudson Homecoming, ought not to cancel their motel reservations until and unless they hear something a bit more substantive.

oldhudsons

I find the article confusing: in one place it says Eldon "donated" the structure (& assumedly the cars within??) to the city then towards the end of the article it says there is a mortgage held by State Farm. So which is the truth, is there debt against the Collection & or building housing it or not?
Also it is a large new building, irregardless of floor, as was there when Eldon opened it at the time of the HET National at Auburn, Ind. SO, what is the property tax structure? If owned by a non-profit or a town/city is it off the tax records? It says the former management co. owes $800,000 in back property taxes but doesn't say precisely on which properties. To satisfy that would the property, and or contents, be put up for auction & sold off?????
I'm really kinda concerned about this as seems like whole enterprise is based on summer tourism and if you've ever been there, the town is "out in the middle of nowhere" and with gas prices rising rapidly, a lot fewer people going to drive out into rural no. Ind. (I was born & raised in no. Ind.) for a vacation!
I wonder if Eldon has any more control or influence in this.

[Deleted User]

We had a meet there last year and I spoke to Eldon for a while under my swap canopy. And I dont recall his exact word's but he said something like he donated the cars to the town with "Stipulations".
And by the way the coversation went I took that to mean he had free use of them .
Roger

oldhudsons

hmmm, wonder if he actually gave them titles to the cars or just donated the building which was right beside part of his "industrial complex" so to speak?
getting complicated, LOL!

[Deleted User]

I HEARD AWHILE BACK THAT HE DONATED THE CARS TO THE CITY, BUT THEY COULD NOT SELL THEM AS LONG AS HIM OR HIS WIFE IS STILL ALIVE.

oldhudsons

humpf, that doesn't sound good! I don't know how old they are but they sure aren't "spring chickens" as one would say in Ind.!
A man as well off as he, I would assume, have set up a trust to control his assets upon his demise but of course he may have signed over title to that building, which it sounds like, to the town, the contents being another matter ~ geez!?!!?

hudsontech

I hate to be an "I told you so", but - somewhere, sometime, along the way I had heard that there was another party that was actually running the place (Focus Hospitality Services of Sarasota, FL). I said to somebody at that time that what was thus in place was a time bomb - unless provisions had been made to cover the withdrawal of the management corporation.

In all fairness to the management company they are not in the business to be lose money - and if they don't get the return they expect they are going to pull the plug. If provisions aren't in place to protect the cars, then in the end they could be auctioned off to cover unpaid bills. Fact of life.

I've seen it happen many times over the years. I think this may have happened in this case.

Another problem is the area Shipshewana is in - it's Amish to the core. I've heard a couple of complaints that one had to go 15 miles to get a beer - you cannot run a tourist oriented venue without having some sort of liquor license agreement. Again I can testify to that having lived in a tourist area for many years before I moved to Memphis. People want their cocktails at dinner - if they don't have them, they will go elsewhere.

Just my two cents worth for today.

Hudsonly,
Alex Burr
Memphis, TN

Jon B

But again --

with utmost respect to those who have posted, I keep seeing the terms "I heard", "it seems to me", "someone said" and "it sounds like".

In the final analysis we have just two facts fueling all this speculation:

1). The management company running the hotel, waterpark, town center and museum, backed out of its contract with the town for some unknown reason.

2). One person reports that some un-named former employee said to him that the museum has closed. (Not that it was in trouble or was going to close; no, it "has closed" presumably for good.) This is contradicted by the town official who reports that it has closed until April for repairs.

I have no way of knowing what's going on here, but I think we are presuming an awful lot based upon an awful little!

53jetman

Good conclusion Jon B. Best we wait and see exactly what is going on. If the management company was unhappy with their returns from the water park and the motel, that would be sufficient reason for them to pull out in their line of thinking. The museum was just a small part of their responsibilities.

Jerry

[Deleted User]

I agree Jon. Has anyone thought to call Eldon and find out from the source what is going on? Seems a logical way to stop the speculation.
Del