Tacoma schools, LeMay partner to develop new ‘innovation hub’ on museum campus
Tacoma Public Schools and LeMay — America’s Car Museum are working to develop a “regional innovation hub” at the museum’s downtown Tacoma campus.
Called “The Garage,” the partnership between the two organizations will provide students with a designated building on LeMay’s campus to learn about robotics, e-sports, automotive audio engineering and more, during school hours or through after-school programs. District officials said the new building, which will cost $10 million, is slated to open in the fall of 2027.
“This partnership represents a bold step forward in connecting education to industry,” Tacoma Public Schools Superintendent Josh Garcia said in a release. “This will be a launchpad for student innovation, rooted in Tacoma’s industrial legacy and built for the future.”
Adam Kulaas, chief of schools for Tacoma Public Schools, said the district is in the early stages of the design process for the new building. The district’s board of directors voted unanimously to approve a contract between the district and Sellen Construction for the project, funded by a capital projects bond that voters approved in February 2024.
Kulaas said district officials chose the name “The Garage” to convey that it will be a space for students to build, test, break and fix the projects they’re working on.
“It’s putting teeth to the idea of giving kids, not only in Tacoma, but throughout our region, an opportunity to actually develop and design and deliver on innovation,” he told The News Tribune.
David Madeira, Chief Executive Officer for the museum, told The News Tribune that he’s working with LeMay’s architect to revitalize its show field and entrance concurrently with the school district’s project.
“The goal is a world class destination enhancing the image of Tacoma,” he wrote in an email.
Madeira said the project is primarily in the hands of the district, but LeMay is giving Tacoma Public Schools a free, 30-year lease of the land on their campus. The partnership, Madeira said, is a continuation of a long-standing partnership between the district and the museum — currently, every third grader in the district visits the museum as part of their school’s curriculum. And robotics has some of its origins in the automotive industry, he said.
“[The] first robots were really used there in the 60s, and the biggest single user of robotics today in the world is still the auto industry,” he told The News Tribune.
The partnership to build “The Garage” is simply an extension of that connection, an effort for LeMay to help young people in Tacoma get access to hands-on opportunities to learn about robotics, technology and e-sports. He said he also hopes it will raise the profile for the city of Tacoma, going further to make it a destination for robotics and drone competitions.
“We’re not just a car museum. We’re partnering with the public schools to educate young people and make sure there’s a future, and in doing so, we’re bringing people to Tacoma,” he said. “So that’s a larger thing that we’re attempting to do, and that should make this museum more viable here in Tacoma for the future.”
