Thoughts?

https://wtaw.com/college-station-city-council-is-asked-to-provide-space-for-the-museum-of-grand-junk/

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The College Station city council is asked to provide space for a proposed "Museum of Grand Junk".

Eric Schulte, who owns the Hullabaloo Diner, says some of his more than 500 items from Hollywood that he has collected since the 1960's have been seen on American Pickers.

Schulte says he could put into a 10,000 to 20,000 square foot building, movie props and wardrobes, vintage cars, jukeboxes, and unidentified items that he says are "very significant" to Texas A&M.
Schulte also includes his diner among his collectibles. The diner has been featured on two episodes of Diners, Drive-In's and Dives, and will make an appearance in a Dennis Quaid movie that is supposed to be released next year.

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I heard that. It seems that he could use his own money to start a museum, imo. It could be quite the tourist destination. If he doesn't want to do that he should donate everything to A&M. They have pop culture collections already. Not sure it's worth the additional CS tax $ a city museum would require. But that's just me. I'm sure the city council might think otherwise.

I thought the guy who owns the diner was named Rick or Rich.

AggiePhil said:

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I thought the guy who owns the diner was named Rick or Rich.

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Me too.

Hmmm.... I think I'd rather have museum devoted to Grand Funk (Railroad, that is).

maroon barchetta said:

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AggiePhil said:

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I thought the guy who owns the diner was named Rick or Rich.

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Me too.

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He opened his statement by saying he's also known as Retro Rick.

Bunk Moreland said:

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maroon barchetta said:

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AggiePhil said:

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I thought the guy who owns the diner was named Rick or Rich.

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Me too.

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He opened his statement by saying he's also known as Retro Rick.

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Rich's last name isn't Schulte

If I got a bunch of my friends together and we tried really hard for a few years we could probably come up with a bigger waste of tax payer dollars..........emphasis on probably.

Bunk Moreland said:

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maroon barchetta said:

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AggiePhil said:

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I thought the guy who owns the diner was named Rick or Rich.

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Me too.

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He opened his statement by saying he's also known as Retro Rick.

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I quickly zipped through the video and it appeared to just be some strange slideshow thing. So didn't really listen or pay attention to it.

wasn't in his video, but the actual recording of the council meeting.

But they tabled a proposal to give money to the organization who helps kids who have aged out of foster care get job training and find apartments and such. Our city is ridiculous.

Just did a little basic googling. Maybe Rich and Eric maybe went in on the restoration of the diner together and Rich was owner/operator of the restaurant business?

Seems Eric owns the land the diner sits on for sure. Unsure how the ownership of the diner is divided.

I can't see a better place for this than the mall or city hall

BQ_90 said:

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I can't see a better place for this than the mall or city hall

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Wait, you're saying the city shouldn't buy a prime piece of property that is no doubt listed by their buddy's commercial real estate firm for a fortune, then render that property tax exempt by putting a non-profit museum on it?

Bunk Moreland said:

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BQ_90 said:

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I can't see a better place for this than the mall or city hall

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Wait, you're saying the city shouldn't buy a prime piece of property that is no doubt listed by their buddy's commercial real estate firm for a fortune, then render that property tax exempt by putting a non-profit museum on it?

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This endeavor could save the mall and future taxpayers millions of dollars when the rest of the mall goes to **** and the city buys out the other tenants

montegobay said:

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But they tabled a proposal to give money to the organization who helps kids who have aged out of foster care get job training and find apartments and such. Our city is ridiculous.

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To be fair to the council, it's hard to put a picture of that on your 'come to kollege stashun' brochure to help sell your city, bring visitors and fill the HOT coffers.

Now a museum full of pop culture junk, THAT you can put in a brochure!

Follow the money.

Maybe he should approach the Chicken Oil folks and the Nerdvana guy already in the mall. Isn't there a mostly vacant former arts center building near the park?

Bunk Moreland said:

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Just did a little basic googling. Maybe Rich and Eric maybe went in on the restoration of the diner together and Rich was owner/operator of the restaurant business?

Seems Eric owns the land the diner sits on for sure. Unsure how the ownership of the diner is divided.

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Eric Schulte was the original owner of the diner. Remember, Hullabaloo's was not always a diner, it opened as "Hullabaloo's Dessert Depot" back in 2003, and I believe he sold it after he purchased the diner component (also for a time, there was a retail component called the "Baggage Emporium"). This was alluded to in the first DD&D episode where Guy Fieri says something to the line of "bought by a local antique collector but he didn't know what to do with it, so he sold it"...it's been a while since I've watched the episode, but that's my current understanding.

PS3D said:

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Bunk Moreland said:

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Just did a little basic googling. Maybe Rich and Eric maybe went in on the restoration of the diner together and Rich was owner/operator of the restaurant business?

Seems Eric owns the land the diner sits on for sure. Unsure how the ownership of the diner is divided.

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Eric Schulte was the original owner of the diner. Remember, Hullabaloo's was not always a diner, it opened as "Hullabaloo's Dessert Depot" back in 2003, and I believe he sold it after he purchased the diner component (also for a time, there was a retail component called the "Baggage Emporium"). This was alluded to in the first DD&D episode where Guy Fieri says something to the line of "bought by a local antique collector but he didn't know what to do with it, so he sold it"...it's been a while since I've watched the episode, but that's my current understanding.

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I linked it above. Watch away.

Eric Schulte was also on an episode of American Pickers a year or so ago.

maroon barchetta said:

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PS3D said:

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Bunk Moreland said:

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Just did a little basic googling. Maybe Rich and Eric maybe went in on the restoration of the diner together and Rich was owner/operator of the restaurant business?

Seems Eric owns the land the diner sits on for sure. Unsure how the ownership of the diner is divided.

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Eric Schulte was the original owner of the diner. Remember, Hullabaloo's was not always a diner, it opened as "Hullabaloo's Dessert Depot" back in 2003, and I believe he sold it after he purchased the diner component (also for a time, there was a retail component called the "Baggage Emporium"). This was alluded to in the first DD&D episode where Guy Fieri says something to the line of "bought by a local antique collector but he didn't know what to do with it, so he sold it"...it's been a while since I've watched the episode, but that's my current understanding.

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I linked it above. Watch away.

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Yeah, but that doesn't explain how Schulte is or the actual origins of Hullabaloo's. This link talks about the history of the original diner building and its early life in New York State.

Full disclosure I knew the Schulte family back a number of years ago. His garage used to have a number of old pinball machines...but that was almost 20 years ago at this point.

Don't be confused. You said you had not seen the video in a while. I pointed you to the link. I didn't claim to have the answer.

Museum of Grand Junk.....perfect. Clearly an important need in Brazos County.

Hi, I'm Eric Schulte... Just to clear up a few things. Yes I currently own the Hullabaloo Diner facility (Land and Diner that I moved back in 2004) and have rented everything to Rich Risbon ever since we opened the doors in 2005. My offer to the city is... If they are interested in having a museum that generates income for local charities (I'm not interested in making anything off this venture) then I'm willing to loan my 500+ movie props and wardrobes (as well as other vintage collectables) to the cause. It's up to the city to determine if such an attraction is a benefit to the community or not.

EliteElectric said:

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If I got a bunch of my friends together and we tried really hard for a few years we could probably come up with a bigger waste of tax payer dollars..........emphasis on probably.

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I don't know...we are spending three times market value for a closed retail store.

I would say that if people want this museum, get a campaign going to raise the money.

I have dreams that some day the city will be mean and lean with taxpayer's money.

Fair enough Woodiewood1... and they may determine just that.

woodiewood1 said:

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EliteElectric said:

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If I got a bunch of my friends together and we tried really hard for a few years we could probably come up with a bigger waste of tax payer dollars..........emphasis on probably.

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I don't know...we are spending three times market value for a closed retail store.

I would say that if people want this museum, get a campaign going to raise the money.

I have dreams that some day the city will be mean and lean with taxpayer's money.

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I'd love to see it too, but I think we're just dreamers

Eric Schulte said:

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Fair enough Woodiewood1... and they may determine just that.

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How do you feel about unused mall spaces?

Would you take other people's stuff as well? I have a **** load of movie posters I'd be willing to give you if you wanted to add it to your collection. I know a few movie poster collectors who may want to do the same.

Do you also own a roofing company?

I believe that's David Schulte

[Start your own thread if you want to discuss that subject. -Staff]

Eric Schulte said:

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Hi, I'm Eric Schulte... Just to clear up a few things. Yes I currently own the Hullabaloo Diner facility (Land and Diner that I moved back in 2004) and have rented everything to Rich Risbon ever since we opened the doors in 2005. My offer to the city is... If they are interested in having a museum that generates income for local charities (I'm not interested in making anything off this venture) then I'm willing to loan my 500+ movie props and wardrobes (as well as other vintage collectables) to the cause. It's up to the city to determine if such an attraction is a benefit to the community or not.

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Other than the fact that you still own the land and the building, can you confirm that what I said about Hullabaloo's history was accurate? (Yes, I can confirm my identity--but not here!)