Barnes & Thornburg Lays Groundwork for IMS Museum’s Restoration and Event Center

The firm represented Dotlich Inc., a family-owned company based in Speedway, Ind., in the sale of 1111 Polco Street, less than a half mile south of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

The buyer acquired the property in order to donate it to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum. The sale closed in April 2024.

Dotlich Inc. operated a crane business on the site that moved to Bloomington after the sale. The larger Dotlich family includes Barnes & Thornburg partner Jessica Reiss, who assisted with environmental issues on the sale, while Indianapolis partner Dan Harting negotiated and facilitated the real estate transaction. 

IMS Museum broke ground on the center on May 13, 2026. The 60,000-square-foot facility will include six restoration bays and a detailing bay to preserve cars from previous Indianapolis 500 races. The facility will also feature educational programs catering to students interested in automotive engineering and restoration careers. Construction is expected to be completed in about a year. 

The IMS Museum represents more than a century of motorsports history and is driven by its mission to celebrate and preserve the history behind the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the Indianapolis 500. Established in 1956, the IMS Museum has become one of the world’s premiere collections of racing automobiles and artifacts, with more than 55,000 artifacts and over 150 vehicles.