HOUSTON – From the air, the Lone Star Flight Museum looked like Galveston after Hurricane Ike blew ashore in September of 2008. Archives photos taken inside the facility showed the flooded museum with damaged aircraft and priceless artifacts destroyed.
Scott Rozzell, chairman of the board said, "The real tragedy was not the damage to the aircraft. You know, you can fix airplanes and you can replace airplanes. Even rare airplanes can be replaced. But we had rare artifacts from members of our hall of fame that were lost forever because of the water incursion into our facility.
The museum will move inland. Soon, it will open just off of the runway at Ellington Field, where there will be easy access for museum additions. We got a preview as the museum announced its latest additions to its Texas Aviation Hall of Fame. This year’s inductees include President George W. Bush.
The museum’s CEO, Lt. Gen. (Ret.) Doug Owens said, "They're going to have an experience that will take them through the history of Texas aviation. They're going to have an experience where they will see Texas aviation in fact, in progress at our aviation learning center."
The facility cost more than $38 million. The first big event will be the Hall of Fame Gala in May. Rozzell added, "This is in a totally different league," Rozzell said. "This is a significant aviation STEM and history museum."
The museum in Galveston will close in July. This museum at Ellington Field will open on Labor Day. For more information. Click on www.lonestarflight.org