Vacaville, CA USA — Land that was once occupied by a minor league baseball field in Vacaville could be the new home of the Jimmy Doolittle Air and Space Museum, a hotel and a multiuse facility able to accommodate up to 1,000 people.
The city of Vacaville has showed its support for the project by signing a nonbinding letter of intent with the Jimmy Doolittle Air and Space Museum Educational Foundation that could result in the creation of an aviation museum and other structures between the Nut Tree Shopping Center and Nut Tree Airport.
“It will be a wonderful thing to have,” said Len Augustine, a former Vacaville mayor. He serves on the museum’s board as well as its campaign committee. “It will bring back the spirit of the Nut Tree as an outstanding place to stop.”
The intent is to create a 21-acre complex by combining the museum’s 10-acre parcel with 11 acres of city land. Key elements of the letter include construction of an air museum, air park, multiuse facility, hotel, restaurant, and education and restoration center.
“We’re pleased to announce this opportunity to help create what we believe will be a world-class destination in Vacaville,” Mayor Steve Hardy said in a press release. “Vacaville has a long-established relationship with Travis Air Force Base and is home to numerous Air Force retirees. This project also fits in nicely with the Nut Tree Airport and other activities taking place here.”
Vacaville City Manager Laura Kuhn said planning is in its very beginning stages.
“We’ll see what happens,” she said. “It’s exciting.”
The letter gives the foundation the right to negotiate with Vacaville on terms of a binding, exclusive right to negotiate within 180 days. It also includes language regarding the creation of a mutually acceptable development plan, as well as implementation of that plan during a five-year period.
The Jimmy Doolittle Museum, which is named in honor of the aviation pioneer, has also formed an alliance with Solano Community College and its growing aeronautics program. Should SCC build an educational facility near the Nut Tree Airport, the school and museum would work together to provide classes, training and more.
“This is the first of several steps in the process of bringing the Jimmy Doolittle Museum to Vacaville,” said Brian McInerney, CEO of the museum’s Education Foundation. “We look forward to a successful relationship with the city of Vacaville, Nut Tree Airport, Solano County and Solano Community College. This collaborative effort will help transform these parcels into an economic and social focal point for the region and expand the area’s aviation heritage and history to a national level.”
Air museum could be coming to Vacaville