Hangar One at Moffett Field to be scrapped?

Roger Cain · **Posted:** Thu May 05, 2005 11:39 pm

After all the discussions on this board about the US Navy claiming property to all plane and shipwrecks, I guess their not interested in historical hangars.

Lots of pictures at the Moffett Field Historical Society website, where this picture was borrowed from: http://moffettfieldmuseum.org/gallery/index.php

Friends, Aerospace Enthusiasts, Former Moffetteers,
Shipmates and Silicon
Valley History Fans,

I have it on good authority that one of the ultimate
solutions being
proposed by the Navy (with NASA's tacit concurrence)
to solve the PCB,
Asbestos and Lead Paint issues related to historic
Hangar One at Moffett
Field, is to completely demolish this unique building
and icon of Silicon
Valley. They feel it is their best option for
completely ridding themselves
of these pesky problems so they don't have to deal
with them again in the
future. It may sound ludicrous, but the environmental
types promoting this
action don't seem to be particularly worried about its
historic value or
potential future use as a museum. The reason for
their haste is that the
temporary paint job the Navy put on the exterior in
2003 (at a cost of over
$2 Million), to encapsulate the PCBs and keep them
from leaching into the
storm sewer, is due to exceed its usefullness within
the next 2 years, so
they want to move forward with a final solution ASAP.
Aside from costing
over $30 Million, the demolition solution would
absolutely kill any efforts
by the California Air and Space Center (CASC) or any
other organization
interested in using this wonderful (and irreplaceable)
building to preserve
the history of the Navy, NASA and the area, or use it
to promote aerospace
education.

I urge you to attend the next meeting of the Navy
sponsored Moffett Field
Restoration Advisory Board (RAB) on Thursday May 12th
at 5:00 p.m. in the
Mountain View City Hall (4th Floor Gallery) at 500
Castro Street in Mountain
View. The RAB will be also be conducting a bus tour
of the EPA cleanup
sites at Moffett Field before the meeting including
Hangar One. Please also
pass this along to anyone you think would be
interested in helping save
Hangar One.

If enough concerned citizens and organizations voice
their opposition to the
demolition option, the Navy (and NASA) may be
persuaded to choose one of
their other options. The other options range from
continued encapsulation
with paint, to trying to just remove the toxic
materials from the hangar's
sheathing and framework (sandblasting etc), to totally
removing the exterior
sheathing and conducting a cleanup of the framework.
All of these other
options at least offer the CASC or others the
opportunity to restore the
hangar to its previous appearance and reuse it for
historical or educational
purposes, but demolition should not be one of their
options.

If you cannot attend, you can also voice your
opposition by writing to the
RAB in care of the Navy's Environmental Office of
their Southwest Division,
or NASA's Environmental Office at:
NASA Ames Research Center
Office of Safety and Quality Assurance (QE)
Moffett Field, CA 94035-1000
Attn: Sandra Olliges

I hope to see you there,
Carl Honaker
Former NAS Moffett Field Executive Officer
Life Member and former President of the Moffett Field
Historical Society

HarvardIV · **Joined:** Mon Oct 04, 2004 9:08 pm **Posts:** 1437

It's time to write you Congressman; nothing else can be done.

Jack Cook · **Posted:** Fri May 06, 2005 9:48 am

That would be a true shame.
I spent a goodly amount of time down there flying with VP-40.
We were on the other side of the field. There's something about
a building with it's own atmosphere.

agent86 · **Joined:** Sun May 02, 2004 3:57 am **Posts:** 926

This is the solution that they are also proposing for both airship hangars at the former Tustin Marine helicopter base.Then they have room to build more homes.How convienient.

O.P. · **Posted:** Sat May 07, 2005 3:44 am

Thursday May 12th
at 5:00 p.m. in the
Mountain View City Hall

Thanks Roger, I'm there. I live on Moffett boulevard, on just the wrong side of the CalTrain Tracks. About a block from downtown Mountain View.

This is my town. I don't want that to happen for a lot of reasons.

I was talking to a dude who's a member of my flight school a few months ago, first time we met, Good guy, and it got around to the ol what do ya do conversation. After I told him I'm a typical California slacker, doing slacker work, He tells me he's a big time construction contractor (This conversation happened at pine mountain lake, where he has a pad, thats the reason for the flight lessons, Valley to pine mountain lake, in a new 182), anywhooo, he tells me they're gonna build condos on the bay side of Moffett. "WTF?" I ask. "Dude, to start off thats wetlands, and to finish off, that's one of the most polluted places in the bay, how in the h*ll you gonna do that? This is California, and the bay area, you know that right? Commie tree hugger central ring a bell?" I say. He says, "We're doing it. A half a zillion condos on the swamp side of Moffett."

I believe him. I should probably walk over and take a look and see if they're getting started.

This awakes the conspiracy theorist in me. Hmmmm. About one milimeter north is a gigantic old garbage dump that Shorline Amphetheatre is built on. Another milimeter is KPAO. Between the three is swamp/ bird farmin central. If "Pollution" is such a big deal, how bout you gubmint mothers tell me the whole Shorline story? If "Pollution" is such a big deal, how bout you gubmint mothers tell me the whole "Condo" story? 60-70-80 some odd years of 100+LL, Jet A, Oil, Naca, Nasa, Navy, frickin blimps, and a bunch of secret "We aint gonna talk about it" sh*t, spewing on the ground there, don't stop condos, or a bunch of folks partying on trash, what's the problem with the Hangar?

I'm not really this naive. I am really this p*ssed. I get it. This is some of the most valuable real estate in the world. Besides the monument itself, the FAA will never let this airport close. I get it that the Navy wants the easy way out. Thats cool. But if my city individual of questionable judgement elected criminals think they're gonna get taxes, kickbacks, ect, by plowing over Moffett, they got another very expensive thing coming. The FAA aint gonna let them close that airport. Period. There are three international airports in the immediate, and I mean the very immediate vicinity. This is one of the failover, feeder, whatever airports. Traffic's so heavy around here, if one goes down, Moffetts it. The same goes for Hayward and Livermoore, only Moffett can accomadate everything.

Here's some good reading, read the Livermoore airport commitee's minutes. Totally populated by anti airport folks, all they have managed to do is piss the airport users off, and lose, and are losing, a lot of revenue. Guess what dufuses? The FAA will never let that airport be closed. So now you dumbsh*ts got a big, and getting bigger, drag on the citys economy, and you're still gonna have to hear airplanes. Waaa, Waaa,,,,it's only been there for 70 years, you probably shouldn't have moved there in the first place if it bothered you. Oh, I forgot, you're a money grubbin puke lookin for 20 points a year on your 2 bedroom 500k sh*thole. Sorry it aint gonna work out for ya, not sorry about the property/sales tax increase your dumb ass caused yourself. (Important clue dumbasses, the house you live in aint a short, or, a long term investment, it's your godda*n house) The same thing will happen with Moffett, and Mountain View if these turds have their way. The hangar is only the beginning.

As a personal policy, I try not to b*tch without giving a solution.

Make the Navy clean up the hangar. The military has been cleaning up artillery,bombing, waste, ranges for properties turned over to local communities to the tune of billions for years.

Keep the hangar. Declare it a national property or something like that.

If that don't work, get sponsors/state to keep it.

The revenue from hundreds of hangars being leased, pays for a lot.

Taxes from new FBO's pays for a lot.

Get Larry to park the MIG at Moffett instead of San Jose.

Turn the Hangar into a Museum. It already is, but do the whole thing. Get a B-17, ect. The whole history of the field, in the hangar, in aircraft.

Besides the hangar, I want my Hellcat back. Get it back and put it in the hangar.

This is the best central place for the warbird community to come to in the bay area. It is the best place left for the GA community to come to in the bay area.

If all else don't work, I'm gonna join forces with the commie tree huggers I know, and get the whole godd*mn thing declared a wetland. That way, my money grubbin city and state reps and their turd sponsors, will have to spend their whole shebangy cutting lawns, blowing leaves and keeping down the skeeter population forever. I'd rather it was gone, and it was a liability to the city, than those worthless pieces of f*ck got a dime outta it. They can have Moffett and the Hangar sideways, with no grease.

I've never felt the want or need to be overtly politcal, but I'll be there next thursday.

(Scott, sorry about some of the language, if it gets nuked, thats cool)

Roger Cain · **Posted:** Sat May 07, 2005 8:15 pm

Orvis,

Would it be safe to say that your not happy about this? This message has really spread around this area, very quickly, like wildire. Quite a few people had heard nothing about this until now. Hopefully there will be a good turnout. I just drove by there half an hour ago, after checking out the B-17 Fuddy Duddy at Watsonville. Can't imagine that hangar not being there, it's a bay area landmark.

Roger Cain · **Posted:** Mon Jun 06, 2005 9:50 pm

New information posted today:

Friends, Shipmates and Fellow Moffetteers,

As promised here is an update on the continuing saga of Hangar One and
how we need to make our voices heard so that the hangar may be saved.
Thanks to all who have shown their support and attended the last
Restoration Advisory Board (RAB) meeting at Mountain View City
Hall...your presence truly made a difference! We've also heard that
there have been some interesting "out of the box" ideas on how the
Navy's goal of environmental cleanup can be accomplished without
tearing down the hangar. Lets hope one of these solutions is the
answer.

Based on the information we received at the last RAB meeting, its
evident that the Navy is not willing to exclude the "demolition"
option from its list of possible mitigations. Although they label it
as a worst case and highest cost alternative, they don't want to take
any options off the table at this time. That still makes me nervous
especially when you look at their very agressive timeline to find a
solution.

So lets continue to keep the pressure on by attending the public
meetings and writing to our elected officials. I'm still working on a
'boiler plate' letter that you can use or modify as you see fit to
send to your City/County/State and Federal politicians and officials.
I'll send it separately in another email.

A good source of info on what's happening at Moffett Field is a great
website/blog operated by Steve Williams at: http://www.nuqu.org where
you can find links to Hangar 1 and other Moffett/NASA current events.

Future Meetings....
There are three upcoming meetings that are significant for Hangar
One:

One is a Hangar One Stakeholder Meeting that is apparently for a
select group of NASA invitees (guess I'm included as I was invited).
That meeting is set for this Wednesday evening from 4-6 p.m. at the
NASA Ames Conference Center (former Officers Club) at Moffett Field.
I definitely plan to be there.

The next public meeting regarding the Navy's environmental plans for
the hangar is an Open House at the former Chief's Club/Space Camp
building just outside the gate on Monday June 13th. Here is a copy of
the flyer that went out toward the end of April to those on their
mailing list.

Date /Time: Monday, June 13, 2005, 5 to 8 p.m.
Location: Former NAS Moffett Field
Building 943
Mountain View, CA

Come learn about the environmental activities taking place at
Hangar 1, located at the former Naval Air Station Moffett Field, and
take the opportunity to provide your input to the Navy as they examine
several options for addressing cleanup there.
The Navy will study these options in an Engineering
Evaluation/Cost Analysis (EEICA), and the open house will present
information about the EEICA, its purpose and content.
Discuss the issues directly with representatives from the
Navy, NASA and regulatory agencies at various stations throughout the
room. We recommend following the sequence below

STATION OVERVIEW
STATION NO. 1 WELCOME - Sign in, pick up informational
materials and sign up on the project mailing list.

STATION NO. 2 ENVIRONMENTAL PROCESS - Get an overview of the
environmental restoration process at Hangar 1, as well as the process
for evaluating feasible and cost-effective alternatives for proposed
removal actions.

STATION NO. 3 REGULATORS - Meet the regulators and learn
about their agencies' involvement in the environmental restoration
program at Hangar 1.

STATION NO. 4 HANGAR I - Learn about Hangar I, its
background and history.

STATION NO. 5 REMOVAL ACTION - Learn about alternatives that
will be considered to address environmental issues at Hangar 1.

STATION NO. 6 COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT - Learn about more ways
to get involved in the Navy's environmental program; fill out a
comment form to provide input on proposed alternatives for Hangar 1.

THANK YOU FOR ATTENDING!

And the next RAB meeting is set for Thursday July 14th from 7-9 p.m.
at Mountain View City Hall. In addition to the other environmental
topics at Moffett Field, Hangar One should still be a big part of the
meeting's discussions.

Thanks and hope to see you there!
Carl

Roger Cain · **Posted:** Sat May 06, 2006 2:12 pm

Looks like the US Navy is recommending the destruction of Hangar 1
http://www.nuqu.org/

L. Thompson · **Posted:** Sat May 06, 2006 11:15 pm

O.P wrote above:

"Besides the hangar, I want my Hellcat back. Get it back and put it in the hangar. "

Do you know where it went? Have you seen any photos of it?

O.P. · **Posted:** Sun May 07, 2006 3:01 pm

Hi Roger!

Thanks for the site.

I figured that would always be their answer. They got to be getting down to the short strokes on the whole deal by now. Hopefully the reside option works out in the end. I think I sugested that in another rant I made last year. BTW, the condos are up. They are nice. They are on the 101 side to the right of the main gate. I've been told that Google is going to be building their place where the vehicle park is at near the Ellis gate. I also found out that there is a civilian aviation outfit operating out of hangar two. I also heard that NASA is trying to get a kinda college deal going to get some kind of extention campus thing with housing going.

I actually think all of this comerce stuff is a good thing for Moffett in general. I just wish that a fraction of the energy thats being put into selling Moffett off into saving the defining piece of it.

Besides, if Hangar one is gone, how will all of the Big Iron guys know when to make their turn when the runway direction is switched at SJC.

Hi L!

That's the 64k question. The most info, scetchy at best, I think we both got awhile back,

http://warbirdinformationexchange.org/p ... php?t=3468

A friend of mine made some donations to the Moffett Museum and has been encouraging me to go over and take a look. I think I'll walk over there next saturday and check it out. Maybe ask a question or two.

(Hmmm, whats that feeling? Ahhhh, it's thinking. Thinking has made it past the thick veil of Coors light. Feels good. Maybe if I volunteer, I can help out, and do a "Monument/Display" search through records that no one else has time to do. Yeh, must go to Moffett next saturday.)

There was a picture of it on the internet a few years ago. It was on a site about a guys childhood growing up on Moffet. I think it was from the early 70's. Time to start googling I guess. Got any new info? Maybe its time for the yearly Moffett Hellcat post.

Roger Cain · **Posted:** Mon May 22, 2006 7:51 pm

Note from the Save Hangar One Committee:

On May 5, 2006 the Navy issued a document proposing to DEMOLISH the
hangar as a way of eliminating the environmental risks of toxic
materials contained in the Hanger One structure. However, even the
Navy's own report said that the Navy can satisfy existing
environmental laws AND preserve the hangar - if only the Navy would
agree to spend an extra $12 million dollars on the project, a small
fraction of the total Moffett Field cleanup costs.

This week, on Tuesday, May 23, 2006, the Navy is holding ONE PUBLIC
MEETING to hear comments from local residents and others interested in
the fate of this historic building. We feel it's essential to
mobilize as many people as possible to attend this meeting, sending a
clear message to Navy officials: SAVE HANGAR ONE!

PLEASE JOIN US at 7:00 pm, Tuesday, May 23, at Moffett Field's
Building 943, just outside the Moffett Blvd. gate (at U.S. 101). We
hope you'll bring friends, family and anyone else interested in
preserving our local history. We believe that the Navy and our
elected officials will listen, if we speak up.

For more information, or to sign up for the Save Hangar One
Committee's e-mail list, go to http://www.savehangarone.org.

O.P. · **Posted:** Mon May 22, 2006 8:12 pm

I'll be there.

henning · **Posted:** Sat May 27, 2006 12:15 am

hey there roger, jack,

Any updates on what happened at the tues. meeting?

thanks,

hh

Roger Cain · **Posted:** Sun May 28, 2006 2:20 am

I was unable to attend due to my school final that night, maybe Orvis made it?

O.P. · **Posted:** Thu Jun 01, 2006 7:04 pm

I didn't make it either. Workfest.

From what I've heard though, it was SRO and they were turning them away at the gate.

As long as everyone is still arguing, I'll take that as a good sign and that there is still some time left.

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