Preservationists hoping to save Hangar One -- a landmark, historic dirigible hangar at Moffett Federal Airfield in Silicon Valley -- have hit upon a new idea to make the imperiled structure viable: Adapt the building to house a West Coast outpost of the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum. Genius!
The Mountain View Voice reports:
Environmentalist Lenny Siegel, pilot Steve Williams and County Airports director Carl Honaker are among the Save Hangar One Committee leaders on the board of the newly formed Air and Space West Foundation. The three are leaders of a group that has been fighting to save Hangar One as the Navy moves to strip the hangar down to a bare frame in order to remove contamination from the structure by next year.
The group is thinking farther into Hangar One's future. Hopes are that with enough interest and financial backing from donors, Hangar One could be home to a major earth, air and space museum -- possibly as one of numerous satellite museums that operate under the umbrella of the Smithsonian Institute in the United States.
Early talks with the Smithsonian about turning Hangar One into a major West Coast museum have been promising, said Larry Ellis, the group's CEO and a Silicon Valley business development manager and longtime Hangar One preservationist. The caveat is that the Smithsonian cannot pay for the venture -- the group must raise all of the money for the museum itself, which is not unusual for Smithsonian satellite museums, Ellis said.
This is indeed a clever idea, as evidenced by the fact that a similar building is already in use at the Tillamook Air Museum in Oregon. Throw in the fact that, as the Voice points out, "the Smithsonian has no museum in California and no real presence on the West Coast," and the idea gains some additional logic. Fingers crossed.
Photos: Telstar Logistics
Comments