[MilCom] OFF TOPIC SO DELETE IF NOT INTERESTED - Aviation museum to regain old face

[GG]

Aviation museum to regain old face

http://www.kansas.com/mld/eagle/9463480.htm

An $835,000 contract has been awarded for a historical restoration to the
look of the original Wichita air terminal.

BY PHYLLIS JACOBS GRIEKSPOOR

The Wichita Eagle


After years of delays and money troubles, the Kansas Aviation Museum has
gotten some good news.

Rainbow Construction, a Wichita company with a background in historic
renovation and construction for nonprofit organizations, has been awarded a
$835,000 contract to restore the exterior of the historic structure at 3350
S. George Washington Blvd.

Rainbow Construction owner and president Bob Howard said he's excited about
his company's role in the museum's restoration project. He expects work to
begin within two weeks.

Architect Sam Frey of Schaefer Johnson Cox Frey Architecture said all work
on the building will be historic restoration. It involves the preservation
of the original windows and doors, the reconstruction of the main entrance
steps and terrace, and the removal of additions that enclosed the
observation deck in the 1950s.

"All of the additional stuff will be stripped away to reveal the original
exterior wall and the original flight observation deck," Frey said. "It will
return the building to the look of the days when people would go to the
airport just to watch the planes and the people come and go."

Frey has been involved with museum efforts for 15 years and his firm has
donated architectural services for museum projects, including plans for the
upcoming renovations.

"Progress at the museum has been slow, but there is so much latent
potential," Frey said. "There is so much history there, and it's been so
hard to get that story out to the public."

The 49,000-square-foot building that now houses the museum was the original
Wichita Municipal Airport terminal, built just 26 years after the Wright
Brothers' first flight. The building was custom-designed to reflect the
theme of aviation on the prairie.

In the early years of transcontinental flight, when flying was done only
during the day, the airport's midcontinent location meant travelers often
spent the night in Wichita. Through the double doors of the entryway passed
a whole generation of the rich and famous.

Aviation pioneers Charles Lindbergh and Amelia Earhart came to Wichita
frequently.

So did celebrities. Fred Astaire once danced his way through the atrium to
the double doors and down the front stairs to the tarmac. Howard Hughes
threw his lunch on the floor of the terminal cafe in a fit of pique. Gregory
Peck passed through regularly.

During World War II, families said goodbye to loved ones leaving for duty
overseas. And when the war was over, those same families were united in the
atrium where they had said goodbye.

Frey said he's thrilled to see work to restore the building about to begin.

"We were fortunate to get the federal grant to help pay for protecting the
stability of the building," he said. "We need to continue to work to move
things along."

Frey said the museum's artifacts and archives collections have the potential
to draw visitors from all over the world.

"We are blessed with having so many people with the talent to do
reconstruction work right here in Wichita," he said.

"And there are so many planes and parts of planes stored in garages and
barns and abandoned houses. We need to get those pieces of history donated,
restored and exhibited."

Museum director Teresa Day said a fund-raising drive to build a hangar for
aircraft exhibits and for restoration work is continuing. She said museum
officials expect September to be "a big month" in terms of making progress
on that and other projects.

Fund-raising efforts for the museum will be part of the fall aviation
festival at the end of September.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----
Reach P.J. Griekspoor at 268-6660 or pgriekspoor at wichitaeagle.com
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
CHECK & CLEAR 6
73
walt
38-54-14.601N / 097-14-09.074W