WARREN, Mich. (WXYZ) — A metro Detroit nonprofit is racing against the clock to move more than a dozen military vehicles to a new storage facility.
The Arsenal of Democracy, which was established just before 2000, has one of the largest collections of historic military vehicles and artifacts in the Midwest.
"Our vehicles range from WWII all the way to present-day and we’ve just acquired a tank transporter trailer for our tank transporter truck. So we are in full restoration of a WWII tank LVT4," said John Lind who is the director of the nonprofit.
Lind says after they were forced to shutter their St. Clair Shores location, they were approached by previous leaders with the City of Warren to store some of their nearly 50-vehicle fleet inside the Department of Public Works garage free of charge.
The vehicles have since been stored inside and in an adjacent lot to the garage for the last six years, only being taken out for parades, Veteran's Day events and other showcases. The City of Warren is now giving the nonprofit a little more than 30 days to find a new home for the vehicles.
Lind says about a year and a half ago, he approached Warren asking if the nonprofit would be allowed to keep their vehicles in the city-owned garage for another year as they were working to purchase another military vehicle to add to the collection.
He says at the time, the previous administration agreed that the space would be available for them to use so they proceeded to invest funds into the new vehicle restoration. However, Lind says he was notified Monday that they would need to move the vehicles by Jan. 12.
"My concern is where are we going to go? We don’t have the funding the move. It caught us completely off guard. We were promised to be here for at least another year and if we were given the year, we would have a choice of where to go," said Lind.
A spokesperson for the city says the garage was always meant to be a temporary solution. The city says they need to space back now to protect city-owned vehicles from the elements.
Lind is now turning to the community for help finding a space with a limited budget and a short timeline.
"We’re concerned primarily with the vehicles we have inside the building rather than the ones outside of the building," said Lind. "Our older vehicles are like older veterans, they have to be inside, they have to be cared for."
Lind says they're hoping to use a space temporarily as they search for a permanent home nearby.
"Regardless of where we’re going to be at, we will continue with our programs. Our mission in life is to help veterans," said Lind.
Anyone who has a space that the nonprofit can use temporarily can reach them via email at mgmeyerand@aol.com. More information about the nonprofit can also be found on their website.
