A large piece of General Motors’ history is moving closer to where it all started for the company in Flint, Mich.
GM Heritage Center will move from Sterling Heights, Mich., in Macomb County, to Genesee County — home to Factory One and the birthplace of General Motors, the company announced Thursday in a press release.
The Heritage Center, which opened in 2004 to preserve GM’s history, houses an archives and historic vehicle collection in a leased facility, according to the company. The archives consists of around 600 cars and trucks, 8 million photos, 250,000 video masters and films, 1.5 million digital files and more than 1 million pieces of microfilm available by public request.
Searching for a permanent alternative, GM moved the Heritage Center to its former Customer Care and Aftersales headquarters, which was set to relocate in 2021. The new location sits on 34 acres of land, providing more space for vehicle displays and programming, the release states.
Placing the Heritage Center near GM’s birthplace makes sense, GM President Mark Reuss stated in the release.
“As General Motors transforms the future of the automobile, we also celebrate and commemorate our storied past and rich history with our fantastic GM Heritage Center,” he said.
A timeline for the Heritage Center’s move and renovations is not available at this time, according to a GM spokesperson. The center expects to eventually resume hosting events in the new space. In the meantime, Heritage Center staffers will operate in the new space and assist with research requests.
