Any thoughts on what collection they may be after?
I wonder if it would have been less expensive to buy the Champlin collection a few years back....
City to vote on vintage aircraft deal
Some envision museum in Phoenix
Ginger D. Richardson
The Arizona Republic
Oct. 2, 2006 12:00 AM
The Phoenix City Council will vote later this month on whether to spend $9 million to acquire a collection of vintage aircraft, in hopes that the planes might one day be displayed in an aviation museum near Sky Harbor International Airport.
The exhibit would be a tourism draw, but a growing number of opponents are asking whether it would be fiscally irresponsible of the city to purchase the planes.
Phoenix officials have the money to buy the aircraft, but they don't have the cash to build the museum or run it. They say they hope to form a non-profit group to raise the necessary funding, which is expected to be more than $50 million.
But they don't yet know if there are willing donors.
Still, the museum's biggest champion, City Councilman Dave Siebert, is eager to move forward.
"This is something that is long overdue," the longtime councilman said.
For Siebert, time is of the essence. He is one of three council members who will leave office at the end of 2007 because of term limits. He also worries that if the city doesn't act now, it will lose its opportunity to acquire the Oregon-based airplane collection.
A specially appointed committee appears to agree with him. Last month, the panel forwarded a recommendation to buy the planes to Phoenix City Manager Frank Fairbanks. That recommendation sets the stage for the vote later this month.
But whether Siebert's fellow council members share his exuberance for the museum project remains to be seen. So far, few have been willing to comment publicly.
"At this point, there's still more questions than answers, at least from my perspective," City Councilman Claude Mattox said.
Building a museum
Earlier this year, the city hired a consultant to conduct a feasibility study of the project.
Eisterhold Associates Inc., based in Kansas City, Mo., determined that the museum could be a success, in part because of the number of residents living in the Valley and Arizona's status as a tourist destination.
Plans tentatively call for it to be built in a city-owned warehouse just north of Sky Harbor. City officials originally had considered locating it at the airport but have since backed off that idea because of security and crowd-control concerns.
Plans call for the museum to tell the story of Arizona aviation from the 1920s to the present, with a heavy emphasis on military aircraft.
Arizona's ties to military flight go back to World War II, when miles of unending desert made for an ideal training ground. Men and women trained throughout what is now the metropolitan area, from Luke Army Air Field in the West Valley and Thunderbird Field in Phoenix to Williams Army Air Field near Chandler and Falcon Field in Mesa.
Building the museum would cost about $51.9 million, according to the consultant's estimates. Running it would cost roughly $1.4 million annually.
And it's likely that it won't be self-funding, meaning that revenue from ticket and retail sales would not cover its costs.
"It is very difficult, and very rare, for aviation museums to be self-sustaining through earned revenue," the consultant's report said.
In this case, just over half, or 52 percent, of the annual operating costs would need to be covered by outside sources.
Phoenix officials are adamant that city dollars would not be used to build the museum but have released few concrete details about whether there are private donors who might be in the position to donate money for the museum.
That makes some people question whether it's a good idea for the city to move forward with the acquisition of the aircraft.
"Public funding should not be used in this way, particularly when there is no guarantee of private backing," said Susan Copeland, a member of the Downtown Voices coalition.
Acquiring the planes
Little is known now about the collection Phoenix is eyeing, though it is said to contain aircraft dating back to World War I.
City officials have said that it contains roughly 15 planes, but it's not clear how many the city might buy. Specifics have not been released because the city fears doing so would jeopardize negotiations.
But Siebert and others have said that the collection is well suited to telling the story of Arizona aviation.
Phoenix is proposing to buy the vintage aircraft with $9 million it has from the Percent-for-the-Arts Program. That program allows 1 percent of construction projects - in this case, Sky Harbor airport improvements - to go toward enhancing public spaces.
But the idea has upset the arts community.
The Phoenix Arts and Culture Commission usually doles out the program's funds. In this case, though, the city bypassed that board, creating an ad hoc committee with representatives from the community and city departments.
And there is much debate whether the planes qualify as "art."
"My sole opposition is the method in which this was advanced," said Bill Sheppard, former chairman of the Phoenix Arts and Culture Commission.
Next steps
While nothing can officially happen until after the October council vote, some city officials already are tossing out ideas for how and where the aircraft could be displayed in the short term.
The general consensus is that the planes could be shown at Phoenix Sky Harbor until the museum is built.
No matter what shape the museum would ultimately take, Phoenix resident Bob Rakowski says he supports it.
"I think it's a great idea," said Rakowski, a member of the Phoenix Military Veterans Commission, "and I think it will draw a great crowd."
I found it here:
http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/ ... 1002.html#
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