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KANSAS CITY, Mo. —
A battle brewing at Kansas City’s downtown airport is starting to come to a head.
The Airline History Museum's board of directors is now locked out of their hangar.
Hangar nine at the downtown airport has been the home of the Airline History Museum for more than two decades. Now, it sits locked up.
"We're not sure exactly why they want us out, other than for business purposes," Airline History Museum President John Roper said.
The museum says that in 2005 the city granted rent and free occupancy to host STEM programs. The landlord, Signature Flight Support, says the museum owes back rent.
Recently, a judge agreed, locking out those on the board and locking in more than $2 million worth of aviation.
“We're trying to figure out how they're billing us for something that we don't owe," Roper said.
The hanger is the home of some of Kansas City’s classic planes, including Harrison Ford's plane. The museum directors are concerned that recent storms and damage to the building are hurting the aircraft inside.
“We don't know the condition of the airplanes. We don't know about bird nests," Roper said.
The president of the museum says the entire conflict is unfortunate. When you look at the brand-new Amelia Earhart Museum in Atchison, he says Kansas City could have nearly the same thing right here. For now, any ambitions of matching are on hold.
New Amelia Earhart museum set to honor the aviation legend in her hometown of Atchison New Amelia Earhart museum set to honor the aviation legend in her hometown of Atchison
Signature Flight Support was not available for comment. Roper says the museum’s webpage has a sign-up sheet he’s using to collect signatures on a petition that will keep the museum in hangar nine.
“We're confident that in an appeals court, we're going to win," Roper said.
John says if they lose the appeal and have to move the museum, most of the planes inside will have to be permanently dismantled and sold for scrap.