Plans to design an antique car garage and museum were tabled at a May 2 City Council meeting in order to prioritize the city’s resources to go toward parks, council members said.
“This is just one that we just want to put on hold for a little while,” Council Member John Keating said. “Those parks, I believe, are priority ahead of this project.”
The garage, which would be called the Frisco Heritage Garage and Foncine Store, would display the antique cars that are currently scattered around the city in various storage areas, according to meeting documents.
The name honors the history of Shelby Adams, a man who may have bought the first car in Collin County, Frisco Heritage Center President Donna Schmittler said. Adams owned a general store in Foncine, a tiny community from the late 1800s, where the AT&T tower on Eldorado Parkway now stands, according to the Frisco Heritage Center.
The garage would serve as a museum of transportation history in Frisco, Schmittler said.
“I think that because of Frisco being so innovative you can tell the story of transportation,” Schmittler said. “We started with a man who bought the first car in Collin County, and then we had driverless cars. ... We have those cute little things that look like coolers on wheels delivering food, [and] now we have drones.”
Schmittler told council members that she was upset by the decision to postpone the project.
“I love the parks, but I also love history,” Schmittler said.
The Frisco Heritage Garage and Foncine Store is expected to be discussed at future council meetings. Designing the two buildings that make up the museum, the garage and Foncine store, would cost $463,287 pulled from Community Development Corporation funds, according to meeting documents.
“No one's saying no to this, but it's like hang on for a second and get all your data on the parks,” Keating said. “That's what we really want to focus on.”
