Brodhead, WI — A fundraising effort is underway to collect $1 million for the construction of the Alfred & Lois Kelch Aviation Museum in Brodhead, where visitors would be able to see vintage airplanes, automobiles and other historical artifacts, the museum’s curator, Patrick Weeden, said Monday.

Museum building plans
Museum building plans

The 23,000-square-foot facility would be built next to the Brodhead Airport, where a collection of aircraft formerly owned by manufacturer Alfred Kelch has been on display in the hangars since the ’90s.

Weeden said the museum, which he hopes will be built by the end of 2017, will offer a permanent, year-round structure for people to see the 12 aircraft from the “Golden Age of Aviation” donated by Kelch.

Proposed floor plan
Proposed floor plan

He said three vintage automobiles the museum obtained from the benefactor will reside in the building, along with three airplanes on long-term loan from the same time period, roughly between World War I and World War II.

With about $30,000 already collected, Weeden said the museum and its organizers will approach antique aviation foundations and trusts, along with the vintage aircraft community as a whole, to help fund the attraction.

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Museum for ‘Golden Age’ airplanes to take flight

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