Fri, Mar 05, 2004
Attendance Soars At National Air and Space Museum's New
Facility
The Smithsonian has reached yet another milestone. The National
Air and Space Museum's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center has welcomed
more than a half million visitors since the Smithsonian facility in
Chantilly (VA) opened to the public Dec. 15. The attendance
milestone was reached on the last day of February, putting the
total number of visitors for the 11 weeks of operation at 510, 658.
The Udvar-Hazy Center was an immediate hit with the public,
attracting just under 220,000 visitors in its first two weeks of
operation alone.
A companion facility to the museum's building on the National Mall
in Washington, the Udvar Hazy Center houses many rare aircraft and
large space vehicles that had been in storage for years such as a
Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird and the space shuttle Enterprise, as well
as numerous collections of smaller artifacts. Tremendous interest
in the new center during the Christmas holiday season, combined
with a heightened security alert nationwide, led to some delays for
visitors at the parking and building entrances. Long waits have
since been alleviated but the museum is taking steps to avoid
future delays such as increasing the number of informational signs
and, beginning this spring, providing guidance for arriving
visitors through low-watt AM radio. Visitors to the Udvar-Hazy
Center are encouraged, if possible, to car pool or use the shuttle
bus service from the museum's Mall building. Although admission to
the center is free, there is a $12 fee for parking. A roundtrip
ticket for the shuttle bus is $7, with discounts available for
groups. As at the museum's Mall building, express security
screening is available for visitors without bags. Comfortable
rubber-soled shoes are recommended for walking in the Udvar-Hazy
Center.
"We place the highest priority on making our visitors feel
welcome," museum director Gen. J.R. "Jack" Dailey said. "An
enjoyable and enlightening museum experience has to begin even
before the visitor gets inside. We're trying to make the arrival
process as quick and as easy as possible."
The museum's Mall building welcomed one million visitors in its
first 25 days after opening on July 1,1976. It marked two million
visitors on its 50th day of operation. The Mall building is the
most visited museum facility in the world, averaging more than 9
million people each year. The museum has begun refurbishment,
viewable by the public, of the Enterprise in the Udvar-Hazy
Center's James S. McDonnell Space Hangar. After work is completed,
staff will move other artifacts into the McDonnell hangar, which
will be fully accessible to the public later this year and will
ultimately house some 135 large space artifacts. Many can be seen
now in the center's aviation hangar.
The aviation hangar opened in December with 82 aircraft installed.
Several more will be added this year. The hangar, ten stories high
and the length of three football fields, displays aircraft at two
hanging levels as well as at floor level. It will ultimately house
some 200
aircraft.
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