The Seaba Station Motorcycle Museum, housed in a century-old former gas station on Route 66 near Warwick, Oklahoma, soon will change hands for the first time in 17 years.
Owner Jerry Ries told KOCO-TV in nearby Oklahoma City that it was time to turn the keys of the property over to someone else.
“You put so much of your life into something. It’ll be hard, but it’s time I need to be done with it. Let somebody else do it. Go to the next chapter,” he said.
Ries is selling the property to new owners who plan to preserve its legacy while adding new features.
“They have bought some of the bikes that I’ve got in here, and they’re going to keep a little bit of a museum. They’re also going to have kind of like a little cafe here and event center. I think they’re going to really do some really neat stuff with the building and so forth,” Ries said.
The identities of the new owners were not disclosed.
The museum holds an impressive collection of dozens of historic motorcycles dating as far back as 1908.
John and Alice Seaba opened their station in 1924 as a repair garage that sold NevrNox-branded gas. They operated the station over 25 years.
In 1995, Sonny and Sue Preston bought the building, which had been listed on the Register of Historic Places. They made extensive renovations to the property before selling it to Ries in 2008.
(Image of Seaba Station Motorcycle Museum in Warwick, Oklahoma, by DiAnn L’Roy via Flickr)