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Udvar-Hazy Center Begins Work on $74M Expansion Project

Jacqueline Trescott  Washington Post Staff Writer  Thu 16 Oct 2008 03:59:00 No.54174 View View Reply Original Report

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The Smithsonian Institution may have gone through some dismal times in recent years, but it still appears to have a sense of humor.
More than 250 guests gathered today at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center for a symbolic "wall breaking" to launch construction of a $74 million, 220,000-square-foot expansion of the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum companion museum. The new wing is due to open in 2011.
With a fanfare playing over the loudspeakers and an audience countdown, Smithsonian Secretary G. Wayne Clough pushed down a giant throttle and a wrecking ball . . . dropped to the floor. "What's going on? Is there a Plan B?" asked Gen. John R. "Jack" Dailey, the museum's director.
Suddenly a Bobcat tractor driven by the museum's deputy director Joe Anderson, dressed in a flight suit and fighter pilot helmet came zooming down the walkway and crashed through the wall.
Cue smoke machines and big chuckles from the audience.

Jacqueline Trescott  Washington Post Staff Writer 

Jacqueline Trescott  Washington Post Staff Writer  Thu 16 Oct 2008 04:00:00 No.54175 Report

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The three-level addition is scheduled to open in March 2011 and will give visitors the opportunity to watch the precise work of reconstruction and repairs. Those repairs are currently done at a facility in Suitland, which is closed to the public.
When the Northern Virginia museum opened in December 2003, officials planned for an adjacent addition, which would house a restoration hangar, archives and conservation laboratory and storage facility. The fundraising continued but was stalled, and the project was put on hold but not abandoned.
The total cost of the expansion is $74 million, and $56.6 million has been raised so far.
The Boeing Corp. gave $15 million in 2006. And in January the new wing received $15 million from the family of Don Engen, a former director who died in a glider crash in 1999. The Engen family gave the gift after they heard about the difficulties with fundraising, and the restoration hanger will be named after Mary Baker Engen.

Jacqueline Trescott  Washington Post Staff Writer 

Jacqueline Trescott  Washington Post Staff Writer  Thu 16 Oct 2008 04:01:00 No.54176 Report

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The financing for both projects has been complicated. The first phase, a 710,000-square-foot hanger, received a landmark gift of $66 million from Udvar-Hazy, a businessman who made millions in the aircraft leasing business. The museum set an opening date of December 2003 to coincide with the 100th anniversary of the Wright Brothers' flight.

"In order to open on time, we borrowed from the Smithsonian. We didn't have time to raise the rest of the money," said Dailey. The museum owes the Smithsonian $35 million of that loan, which Dailey said comes from the fees for the theater, restaurants, simulators and parking lot.

The second phase was hampered not only by slow fundraising but also by rising construction costs that neared 16 percent a year. Dailey said that the remaining $17.4 million will be raised by traditional sources and that the construction price is now frozen because officials are considering a construction contract. "The bids are within our range," he said.

The project's architect is HOK, the same firm that built the Air and Space building on the Mall, as well as Phase I of the Udvar-Hazy Center. Museum officials say the construction should not disrupt museum visits.

Udvar-Hazy is 28 miles from the landmark museum on the Mall, which is the most visited museum in the world. Early on, a shuttle operated between the Mall and the site near Dulles International Airport, but it was disbanded because of rising expenses and scant ridership.

Jacqueline Trescott  Washington Post Staff Writer 

Jacqueline Trescott  Washington Post Staff Writer  Thu 16 Oct 2008 04:01:00 No.54177 Report

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When the expansion was being planned, the downtown museum was reporting 9 million visitors a year, and planners for the new attraction mixed together a variety of numbers and came up with a 2 to 3 million visitor mark. "Only an early business estimate, again assuming there was a Metro at Dulles, said we would get to 1.5 million. People were thinking, 'Sure it could happen,' " said Dailey. "We are comfortable we are on course."

The center's attendance has hovered around 1 million each year. Through this September, it has had 893,000 visitors. The Mall museum, where the counting methods have changed, has had 5.8 million.

The attendance affects the earned income that the museum relies on to pay off its debt.

But today, besides the practical jokes, there was lots of talk of inspiration. "Future generations will come here and be stunned by what those that came before them have done. They will see that they stand on the shoulders of giants," said Clough. "And as much as they may be in awe, they will also be inspired to take the next leap into the future."

Anonymous

Anonymous Thu 16 Oct 2008 08:17:00 No.54194 Report

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awesome, I was there in late 2005 and they hadn't fully filled up the main hanger yet even (The helicopter area was part empty still).
Good to hear their expanding and people still visit

Anonymous

Anonymous Thu 16 Oct 2008 14:06:00 No.54215 Report

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>The Smithsonian Institution may have gone through some dismal times in recent years, but it still appears to have a sense of humor.
Curators are the stand-up comedians of academia.

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