Flooding and expansion efforts close Motown Museum until 2022

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There ain't no mountain high enough to keep the Motown Museum from closing its doors for an entire year — and nearly two months early.

According to The Detroit News, those looking to visit hitmaker Berry Gordy's legendary Motown headquarters-turned-time capsule, which is home to Motown artifacts, photographs, and other memorabilia, will not be able to any time soon, as the Motown Museum is closed until next summer.

The museum located at 2648 W. Grand Blvd. in Detroit had planned to close in September to launch the second phase of a massive $50 million expansion, but due to the historic flooding last month, museum officials have moved the date up, to, like, right now.

Though no artifacts or memorabilia were damaged by the flooding, the museum's basement did flood and its only elevator was short-circuited as a result. Museum officials say elevator repairs could take as long as three months to complete, which is why they chose to close earlier than planned to start the expansion's next project: constructing a plaza along the front of what will be the museum's new campus. During this time, conservation efforts will also continue at the Hitsville USA house.

Those looking for a bit of what the Motown Museum offers won't have to wait until summer 2022. Motown Museum's chairwoman and CEO Robin Terry encourages visitors to continue to take advantage of photo opportunities in front of the museum, as well as the museum's virtual programming. There will also be a pop-up retail shop opening next month.

In May, the museum celebrated the 50th anniversary of Marvin Gaye's What's Going On with special tours, a street-naming ceremony, and the release of a limited edition commemorative merchandise collection. As part of the celebration, visitors can partake in the "What's Still Going On" walking tour outside of the museum during its closure.

Last month, the Motown Museum was one of 286 "high impact" and "equity-orientated" nonprofit organizations across the country to receive a substantial no-strings-attached financial gift from billionaire philanthropist, MacKenzie Scott, the former wife of Amazon's Jeff Bezos.