Plans are moving forward to turn the Buffalo Transportation/Pierce-Arrow Museum into the largest auto museum in the world.

The nonprofit museum bought a building and parking lot on Exchange Street, directly behind its exhibit space at 263 Michigan Ave. and Seneca Street.

Now the museum just has to acquire two streets from the City of Buffalo to make the expansion possible. Plans call for extending the museum east to Chicago Street, creating a projected 300,000-square-foot exhibit space, said James Sandoro, who, with his wife Mary Ann, co-founded the museum.

"This is a dream my wife and I have had, and the dream is coming to fruition," said Sandoro, 75. "We only have so much time on this planet, and we're trying to get everything done and leave a blueprint for future generations."

Sandoro expects an enlarged museum, possibly with walkways between buildings, would cost $20 million and be completed in three years.

The extra space would allow about 250,000 artifacts now stored in nearby buildings to be displayed. They include a large bicycle collection, racetrack and railroad memorabilia, and larger vehicles, such as Mack trucks and fire trucks.