Museo Vault Articles
Hey, That Ferrari? Put It In A Hurricane-Proof Vault
Listen to the story at NPR http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=130407610
October 8, 2010
Americans have a lot of stuff. That obvious fact led to the creation in the 1960s and 1970s of a whole new business concept: the self-storage industry.
Now, some storage companies are expanding the market by going upscale — providing extra security and specialized services to wealthy collectors of everything from art to exotic automobiles.
Keeping Artwork Safe From Hurricanes
Over the past decade, Miami has developed a reputation as a place to buy and sell fine art, in large part because of Art Basel Miami Beach, an annual event that has grown into one of the largest art shows in the U.S.
It’s led to a boom in art galleries and other companies that specialize in handling, shipping and storing art.
David Lombardi owns Museo Vault, a secure storage facility he founded a year and a half ago that specializes in fine art. “Our clientele are art dealers, collectors as well as institutions — and it’s not just South Florida,” he says. “We have clients coming in weekly from Europe and South America as well.”
Outside, Museo Vault is a multistory, concrete building with few windows. Inside, it’s a sleek and cavernous state-of-the-art storage facility.
Lombardi got the idea for the business at an Art Basel event held by an insurance company after the active 2005 hurricane season. “The topic of conversation was how to keep artwork safe in this environment where we have five or six months of terrible hurricane storms that come through,” he says.
Museo Vault is designed to withstand the 200-miles-per-hour wind speeds of the most powerful hurricanes. The art is stored at least 35 feet above sea level to prevent water damage from even the most ambitious storm surge.
One of Miami’s top art collectors, Marty Margulies, says all art collectors in South Florida need a hurricane storage plan that satisfies their insurance companies. “They want to see sprinklers, hurricane glass, concrete structure, that type of thing,” he says.