Old Pasco Airport Tower Gets $50,000 Gift to Turn Into Museum
An all volunteer team has been trying to restore the old Pasco airport tower and turn it into a World War II museum. Now with a $50,000 donation from an anonymous donor, the museum looks like it will become a reality.
The donation just showed up in the bank account for nonprofit working to preserve the old tower, they thought it was a mistake, according to reports.
After contacting the bank, they realized the money was real. The only information the donor left was that it was donated "In honor of veterans".
Now the group is ready to announce official plans for the museum and plans to make "veterans admitted free" in honor of the donation.
The tower and airport served a very important roll in World War II and the Hanford Project.
The tower was almost tore down by airport officials when the owner of Bergstrom Aircraft moved to lease the buildings from the Port of Pasco to try to renovate it.
The old tower has already been torn down and replaced with new insulation, walls, and plumbing. They did use the original wood siding that was luckily preserved under the metal siding added sometime in the towers history.
The group has been collecting lots of WWII memorabilia for the museum including a "Link" simulator, which is a tiny airplane used to train pilots to fly on instruments only.
The group hopes to have a grand opening in August but and official date has not yet been set.