'Logistical nightmare:' Sarasota Classic Car Museum faces hasty eviction by New College

Since 1953, the Sarasota Classic Car Museum on Tamiami Trail has been a staple of the city’s fabric.

Martin Godbey walked the halls of the museum as a kid in the '60s, gripped by the childlike wonder of the nearly 55,000-square-foot complex.

Automobile displays ranging from the "horseless carriage" to a line of fiery Ferraris and vintage Volkswagens fill out a comprehensive museum collection exemplifying the international history of cars. The building, designed to mimic the feel of a horse stable, smells of wood stain, motor oil and car wax.

Now, nearly 60 years later, Godbey, 69, runs the museum with his son Blake, 26, as a curator. The two manage a collection of more than 150 cars owned and restored by the museum, with others loaned from collectors for display. Located across from The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, the Sarasota Classic Car Museum participates in local shows, sees more than 30,000 guests per year, and now, must relocate by the end of June.

The museum site is owned by New College of Florida, which has leased the property to the tourist attraction for nearly 20 years. Though the museum pre-dates the college, new leadership at the school − appointed by Gov. Ron DeSantis as part of an experimental conservative transformation of the liberal arts college − terminated the museum's lease in May.

Since taking leadership of New College in the spring, Interim President Richard Corcoran has been adamant in his assertion that the introduction of athletics would help drive enrollment at New College. Now the college looks to turn the Sarasota Classic Car Museum into an athletic facility.

Facing a deadline barely three weeks away, the museum has to find a new location and move more than 3,000 pieces to a new location.

While cars move fast, museums do not. Facilitating a move can take years and cost millions of dollars, Godbey said. The museum operates as a nonprofit, accepting donations and participating in fundraising campaigns to help stay afloat.

"You're looking at one to two years to identify, renovate and move into a suitable structure," he said. "There's lots of things to consider: negotiations, the scheduling and timing of construction crews and architects, and all that goes with that."

Much like art, moving cars requires specialized moving companies that charge more than general commercial movers. Since many of the cars on display are one-of-a-kind or antique replicas, moving takes more time and money.

"It's a logistical nightmare," Blake Godbey said.

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New College in a hurry to build

At a New College board of trustees meeting on June 1, the board approved a plan to demolish the Palmer, Reichert and Knight buildings. Part of the plan included turning the car museum into a temporary space to accommodate student housing and other services displaced by the demolition.

As envisioned, the college would eventually turn the space into an athletics gym. The property is about a hundred yards south of New College's Pei dorms, which are also likely to be demolished.

During the June 1 meeting, Corcoran said the college does not yet have the permits to demolish any buildings, but sought approval to get to work as fast as possible. There was no timeline for demolishing the buildings, but the museum was still to leave by the end of June.

Godbey was given a written notice of the lease termination on May 16, followed shortly after by a surprise visit from the college's leadership, including Corcoran. He said Corcoran did not introduce himself or talk much but seemed like a man on a mission.

The lease termination took Godbey by surprise, he said. If the college were looking to move the museum off the property, he said he would've hoped for more notice and time to vacate.

The museum asked New College for more time but has not heard back as of Friday. Godbey didn't speak directly with Corcoran about needing more time but said the logistics are self-evident.

"You can't walk through the property and not come to the conclusion that this is a hell of an endeavor," Martin Godbey said of relocating.

In a written statement, a New College spokesperson said that the college terminated the lease "due to the record growth of the incoming class," but did not elaborate.

Corcoran said at the recent board meeting that record freshman enrollment in the fall is almost "a certainty," currently totaling about 230 students and counting.

Enrollment at New College has been about 600 to 700 students depending on the semester.

New College as landlord

The museum's land is appraised at about $3 million, according to county records. Godbey said the current location fits well alongside the Asolo Repertory Theatre and The Ringling museums to form a museum district in Sarasota.

He said he was unsure where the car museum would move and didn't have any leads.

New College bought the land from the Sarasota-Manatee Airport Authority in 2006 for $4.1 million, and the museum's lease agreement came up more than 10 years ago when the college considered turning the property into a storage facility to try and to earn a $300,000 maintenance grant from the state. At the time, New College's vice president of finance said that the college didn't buy the land where the museum sits because it wanted to be a landlord, but the college still offered a lease extension to the museum.

Under the museum's lease with the airport, Godbey paid $4,242 per month in rent. New College's lease extension in 2012 raised the rent to $8,333 per month. Now, the museum pays $10,695 per month, Godbey said.

Jeff LaHurd, a local historian and author, said the car museum has long been a favored Sarasota attraction, drawing tourists from nearby motels during the post-World War II boom.

The museum also holds Sarasota history, housing several cars owned by the Ringling family, which was consequential in the development of the Sarasota area and lived in the mansion across the street from the current car museum property.

"It's another piece of yesterday Sarasota being subtracted," he said. "There's just so little of that era of Sarasota left."

Godbey still holds out hope for a temporary extension to make more time for a move.

"We're ready for a conversation," he said. "We're ready to choose a reasonable date, ready to be agreeable."

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Follow Herald-Tribune Education Reporter Steven Walker on Twitter at @swalker_7. He can be reached at sbwalker@gannett.com.