CAA Capital Campaign

The Carriage Association of America began, half a century ago, as a small group of carriage collectors. Since then, the CAA has grown into the leading U.S. and world resource for educating its members and the public about carriage makers, carriage restoration, carriage- and driving-related history, traditional standards of turnout, and so much more.

Our unique and valuable resources — essentially, the gathered knowledge of a past era when horses and carriages were a vital part of everyday life — are something that we all treasure. All of us want to ensure that the CAA, as the repository of this knowledge, is passed on to future generations. We must now contemplate a permanent and viable home for our valuable collection, so that we may preserve it for future generations of researchers, enthusiasts, restorers, and drivers.

The current situation is that the CAA’s headquarters — offices, bookstore, library, and archives — are housed in a 2,300-square-foot building at the Kentucky Horse Park. While the Horse Park and its National Horse Center are, without question, the perfect location for the association’s headquarters, the current building is no longer ideal. Since 2005, the current space has become very crowded for the Carriage Association (and its “sister” organization, the Carriage Museum of America, which shares our space) and the extensive and invaluable library and archives, which continue to grow as new donations and acquisitions arrive. Very soon — at the end of that ten-year period — the CAA’s monthly rent will jump to an amount nearly three times our current rate. In short, the Carriage Association of America need more space in a permanent home here at the Kentucky Horse Park.

We now have the rare opportunity to own an office building in the Kentucky Horse Park’s National Horse Center. This building contains 7,500 square feet of floor space and is a close match to the CAA’s future office, library, and storage needs. This unique opportunity has spurred the CAA’s Board of Directors to launch a Capital Campaign, with a goal of one million dollars. We are already a quarter of the way there, with $250,000 received to date. The donations and pledges we raise during the campaign will help to secure a permanent home for the CAA and the library and archives, which house a unique and important “record of the road.

For a printable copy of the detailed fact sheet, click here.