This has been in the works for a while now, and finally it's coming to fruition! Who was the person who called the VAC a "stagnant" museum on here a couple months ago? Enjoy your crow, sir! For the surveyors are already hard at work, and this is just the beginning!
Warbird Museum spreading its wings
Titusville facility gets grant to house Vietnam-era planes
BY KEILANI BEST • FLORIDA TODAY • May 18, 2009
http://www.floridatoday.com/article/20090518/BUSINESS/905180306/1006/NEWS01/Warbird+Museum+spreading+its+wings
Filled to capacity. That's the phrase that best describes the Valiant Air Command Warbird Museum here.
With more planes than room, museum officials realized the need to expand and asked the Tourism Development Commission for a grant to build a 17,000-square-foot facility called "Vietnam and Beyond" to house restored Vietnam-era planes and memorabilia.
The commission awarded the grant earlier this month.
According to museum commander Lloyd Morris, the cost of the expansion is expected to be between $800,000 and $1 million. Using the TDC funds, a $200,000 bank loan and a $400,000 matching grant from the Florida Department of Transportation, the expansion is expected to begin soon and be complete by March.
Rob Varley, executive director of the Space Coast Office of Tourism, said improving the museum, which hosts an annual air show that draws thousands, was a "no-brainer."
"With the air show, they're filling all of these hotel rooms and generating a lot of buzz around the country," he said. "I run into people all of the time who say 'I came to the air show, so now I bring my family and we visit a lot of places.' "
Morris said this is just the first phase of a four-part expansion. Within the next 10 years, he plans to erect four more buildings and a newer, ultra-modern, glass-enclosed facility.
Museum officials hope the expansion will breathe fresh life into the museum while also increasing membership and visitors.
Membership "becomes stagnant, and you really have to be able to expand to grow," said Col.Terry Yon, a museum spokesman.
Operating as a nonprofit, the museum makes its revenue through visitors, general membership and its annual spring air show.
According to Morris, the three-day air show attracts 20,000 to 30,000 visitors and generates anywhere from $400,000 to $500,000 annually.
The show, which hit its 32nd year in March, is the longest continuously running air show in the country.
The museum brings in about $1 million to $1.3 million annually, not including the profit from the air show, but once the expansion is complete, Morris said he hopes to increase that income.
"Once we get our foot in the door, we can show them that we really have something to offer," Yon said.
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