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Historic Wendover Airfield
Aviation museum in Wendover, Utah From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The Historic Wendover Airfield is an aviation museum located at Wendover Airport in Wendover, Utah focused on the history of Wendover Air Force Base.
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History
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Background
Due to the remote location and favorable climate, many of the buildings at the base remained in unaltered, although somewhat deteriorated, condition.[citation needed] For this reason, the base was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1975.[2]
Establishment
The Historic Wendover Airfield Foundation was established in 2001 after Jim Petersen visited the airport as part of a tour group. The following year he became airport manager.[3] The project began with the renovation of, and opening a museum in, the former operations building in March of that year.[4][5]
The Enola Gay Hangar was placed on the 2009 list of America's Most Endangered Places and as a result the foundation received a number of grants, including one from the Save America's Treasures program, that allowed the structure to be restored.[6][3] This was followed by the rededication of the control tower in 2012 and the completion of work on the service club in 2015.[7][8]
The museum encountered some controversy when, in 2017, it agreed to display one of the one thousand origami cranes folded by atomic bomb victim Sadako Sasaki.[9]
The museum acquired a Douglas C-54 Skymaster in September 2020.[10][better source needed] Two months later, one of the barracks was destroyed by fire after a stove was left unattended.[11][12] Then, in 2021, the museum unveiled a four phased plan, called "Save Where They Walked", for the restoration of many of the remaining buildings on the airport.[13][better source needed][14]
The museum placed a replica of the Fat Man atomic bomb on display in June 2023.[15]
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Facilities
- 2410 barracks – restoration completed[16]
- Administration building – restoration ongoing[17]
- B-29 hangar – restoration ongoing[18]
- Control tower – restoration completed[19]
- Dining hall – restoration ongoing[20]
- Norden bombsight storage – restoration completed, 2013[21]
- Nurse's quarters – restoration ongoing[22]
- Service club – restoration completed[23]
- Shower and latrine building – restoration upcoming[24]
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Exhibits
Exhibits at the museum include a replica of the Little Boy atomic bomb[a], an origami crane made by Sadako Sasaki, World War II homefront materials, World War II uniforms and prototype atomic bomb components.[26][27][28][29][30]
Collection
Aircraft
Ground vehicles
Events
See also
References
External links
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