The owner of the Pedaling History Bicycle Museum in Buffalo says he's selling his 400-bicycle collection and shutting down by the end of the year.
Carl F. Burgwardt, 77, says he's tired of waiting to find out whether he can move his collection to the new museum district planned for the city's Erie Canal Harbor project.
A development company says it's interested in launching a museum district in the harbor area, but hasn't chosen the specific museums that would be located there.
8,000 visitors
The development would be a mix of museums and retail. Burgwardt told the Buffalo News that the district would be mostly retail to draw local customers. The museum draws about 8,000 visitors a year at its 3943 N. Buffalo Road site in nearby Orchard Park.
Burgwardt and his wife, Clarice, gained an interest antique and classic bicycles after buying an antique highwheel bicycle in the 1970s. They sought out the help of a bicycle collectors' club, The Wheelmen, and realized the important role that the bicycle played in U.S.
$4 million
Now he's selling. An undisclosed overseas buyer is interested in the $4 million collection of bicycles and may close the deal this week.
The museum is 17 years old and is a link to Buffalo's manufacturing past, according to the newspaper. In fact, one of the bicycles acquired indirectly from the Henry Ford Museum is an 1871 velocipede made just a few blocks from the museum.
Buffalo was home to several bike manufacturers during the 1890s, including the forerunner of the Pierce-Arrow Motor Car Co. Also, there are many high-wheel ordinary bicycles from the Columbia bike works and elsewhere, nearly 100 pneumatic-tired “safety bicycles,” and antique tricycles.
Hall of Fame
The troubles of the Pedaling History Bicycle Museum brings to mind the plight of the U.S. Bicycling Hall of Fame. I wrote earlier this year about the Hall of Fame's efforts to find a new home after losing their location in Somerville, NJ.
Fortunately, the board has no lack of offers. Bicycling magazine reports possibilities include Trexlertown, Pennsylvania, home of the Lehigh Valley Velodrome; Waterloo, Wisconsin, home of Trek; Morristown, New Jersey, near their old home in Somerville; and Worcester, Massachusetts, the adopted home of cyclist Major Taylor and location of a memorial to him.
Newspapers in California mentioned recently that Davis, California, also was a possibility. The Hall of Fame held its induction ceremony at UC-Davis in October.
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