Seattle WA — The Museum of Flight is planning to build a huge roof over some of its largest aircraft, including the first Boeing 747 and the museum’s new 787 Dreamliner.
Plans submitted to the city of Tukwila Nov. 13 describe a 135,000-square-foot open structure with steel supports, standing 88 feet high at its highest point.
The structure is to be 460 feet long by 315 feet wide, said Minnie Dhaliwal, a planning supervisor for the city of Tukwila.
The building, to be called the “Covered Air Park,” is intended to protect some of the museum’s most distinctive aircraft.
Museum of Flight image
These include several Boeing commercial aircraft: the first 747; the first Air Force One, a Lockheed Constellation, a supersonic Concorde, and the museum’s just-received 787, which it just received in September.
On the military side, the building will house a B-17 and a B-24 bomber, both of them of World War II vintage.
“We’ve been tasked with protecting the aviation history of the last century, and we want to be sure we’re doing it correctly. This building will help us do so.” said Mike Bush, director of marketing and PR for the Museum of Flight.
The new building is to be along the western edge of East Marginal Way, across the street from the main Museum of Flight complex. It is to fill up most of the space north of the Charles Simonyi Space Gallery, which houses the Space Shuttle trainer, and south of the recently opened Raisbeck Aviation High School.
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