Logansport resident provides update on planned Batman Museum

Hallie Gallinat, Pharos-Tribune, Logansport, Ind.
·4 min read

Aug. 9—Logansport resident Mark Racop became interested with Batman when he was 2 years old, and over the years, he has amassed a collection of over 3,000 Batman pieces of memorabilia. Now, that collection and more will be put on display at the upcoming Fiberglass Freaks' Batman Museum in Logansport.

Racop owns Fiberglass Freaks, which builds Batmobile replicas — the only business in the country licensed by DC Comics to build them. He said people have donated Batman items to the business and he has also received items for holidays and special occasions. Because of his collection, he said people suggested for him to put them in a museum.

"... then out in Hollywood... the Hollywood Museum did a... '66 Batman' exhibit, and it was their most successful exhibit ever," Racop said. "But it was just a temporary exhibit, and I thought, 'well, we need to do a permanent exhibit.' And that really cemented it. As soon as I saw that their exhibit was so successful, I said, 'well, we're definitely going to do this.'"

According to Racop, he purchased the building in December 2019. The museum will be broken up into six rooms on two different floors, including the Wayne Manor Study with a sliding bookcase, a theater and the Rouges Gallery, which will have statues of Batman villains for people to take photos with, Racop said. The Rogues Gallery will also have shelving back behind them like in the 1966 Batman movie where each villain had a section devoted to them, he said.

"Then downstairs is the Batcave, which is set up in three different sections. So, the first section will be devoted to some of the other versions of Batman. So, the Michael Keaton Batman will have a section, Lego Batman will have a section and then we get into the Batcave proper, and... you'll see large photos of the Batmobile as it was being built and what it was before it became the Batmobile, as the 1955 Lincoln Futura," Racop said. "And then information about the No. 5 Batmobile will be on display, of course. And then in the final room, there will be a Batgirl Cycle and a Batman Cycle on display as well as King Tut back in that area."

Two items that have been seen on screen will also be on display, Racop said. These are a Penguin jacket that actor Burgess Meredith wore in a third season episode of Batman and a Riddler costume worn by actor Frank Gorshin in the 2003 movie "Return to the Batcave." He said he is hoping to have a few more screen used items by the time the museum opens.

The No. 5 Batmobile, a fan built Batmobile that was owned by George Barris and used for touring purposes, will also on display for the first few months the museum is open, Racop said. In the Batcave, statues of Batman, Robin and Bat Girl will stand for people to take photos with, and Racop said he plans to add more statues such as King Tut and Mr. Freeze. The Atomic Pile, a nuclear reactor seen in the background of the Batcave, will also be built and featured, Racop said.

"That's going to be a ton of fun for people to be able to see Batcave equipment, like the Bat Computer and the flashing lights that were part of the Batcave equipment," Racop said.

The museum will also have a gift shop area with merchandise like shirts, hats, mugs and action figures, Racop said. He said prints made by artist Bill Crabb will also be in the museum.

"... it's colored pencil artwork and he gave me permission to go ahead and enlarge those to giant sized prints that will be in the gift shop area for people to be able to look at," Racop said.

According to Racop, there is mostly cosmetic work to be done on the museum, such as installing Batpoles, putting up fabric wallpaper inside of the Wayne Manor study and building Detolf display cases. The walls to the Batcave need to be constructed, however, Racop said. According to his Facebook page, upcoming dates for volunteers to work on the museum are on Aug. 12 and 26. The opening date for the museum has not been concretely set, he said.

"... there's going to be a sneak peek on Sept. 15 for just a handful of people. Then I think Oct. 15 is my target date for a soft open," Racop said. "Then we'll be doing a grand opening as soon as we can after that, probably about two weeks later. But that has not been set in stone yet."

Racop said he cannot wait for the museum to open. He said the museum will be a draw for Logansport and restaurants, hotels and other museums in the area will benefit from the Fiberglass Freaks' Batman Museum.

"There's a place called Hall of Heroes up in Elkhart, Indiana," Racop said. "It's a general superhero museum, so it covers all types of characters, whether Marvel and DC and they have over 10,000 people a year come to it from all over the country and really all over the world. And I'm hoping that... if we can hit even half of that, I'm going to be absolutely thrilled."