Facing Demolition And Disrepair, Former B-29 Hangars Need
Support For Survival
Between 1941 and 1945, young pilots of the U.S. Army Air Corps
regularly flew over the farmland of America’s Heartland in
Kansas and Nebraska from a network of bases scattered around the
states, training to fly various aircraft including the Boeing B-29
Superfortress.
As a result, small towns near bases were changed forever as
servicemen and civilian personnel flooded the communities and left
their impression on the landscape.
Sixty years later, as the “Greatest Generation” of
WWII veterans in communities such as Pratt and Great Bend, Kansas
pass on, the massive hangars built to house the aircraft they
trained in are falling victim to their age and Mother Nature
according to a report this week by the Wichita Eagle.
The only hope for the historic structures is the effort of a new
corps of volunteers committed to the mission of saving the hangars,
some of the sole survivors of the regions role in WWII, from
eminent demise to the effects of time and community pressure to
demolish them for development.
"It's just so important to the whole area," said Milt Martin, a
WWII history buff from Pratt. The bases "changed these communities
forever. I can't believe there isn't a concerted effort to save
these."
Illustrating the military significance of the airport to more
recent military activities, the entrance to the Pratt Industrial
Airport is guarded by three pedestal-mounted aircraft -- an F-4
Phantom, a Cobra attack helicopter and a T-38 Talon. The sole
remnants of its World War II roots, one of two period hangars used
to house B-29s on the site remains in use. The other is scheduled
for demolition.
Similarly at Great Bend, only one hangar remains in use. In
March another WWII era hangar was demolished after being damaged by
a tornado in 2005. A third damaged hangar remains vacant, with an
uncertain future. Though both had been used by private businesses,
they had sat empty for about 30 years before the twister.
"We just want to preserve these for history," said Dale Cotton,
a historian from McCook, NE. He is a member of the McCook Army Air
Base Historical Society, which owns three hangars at an airfield
similar to Great Bend and Pratt.
The longer these structures are neglected, the more costly their
renovation. "Some of these towns don't have any interest," he
said.
"We need to do something to take the initiative to save these
things. We've still got to save as much as we can," Cotton said.
"We have to continue doing what we have to do to accomplish the
mission."
Cotton envisions potential for the former bases and hangars to
have an impact on local tourism if saved. "There is a lot of
interest. Military tours are big now” he said.
However, some contend the cost of
saving the structures outweighs the possible benefits if the
hangars are too far gone. Projects to replace even a roof on the
massive buildings can run into the tens of thousands of dollars
even with volunteer help.
"If I could have preserved that hangar, I would have," Great
Bend B-29 and WWII enthusiast Kevin Lockwood said of the one that
was torn down. "I'm all for doing something out there. Anything I
could do to help I would."
Lockwood campaigned ten years ago to save the empty hangars at
Great Bend but couldn’t get the City of Great Bend, owners of
the buildings, involved despite his grass roots efforts.
"The city has to be willing to play ball," he said.
In reference to the third vacant hangar at Great Bend, City
Administrator Howard Partington was pessimistic about its future
with the damage from the tornado. "It's not in very good shape" he
said. "One option would be to take it down."
He added the city hasn't gotten authorization from the Federal
Aviation Administration or the Kansas Historical Society to do so
as of yet.
The hangar scheduled for demolition in Pratt will meet its fate
soon despite city assistance. The cost to salvage the hangar was
estimated to be about $1.5 Million in total.
"We couldn't come up with the money to save it" said Stafford
resident and historian Phillip Schultz. "We've done everything we
could. If we could have just started a little sooner…"
In addition to hangars, some of the former airfields in the
region also have water towers, Norden bomb sight vaults, and
parachute training towers as survivors on their property.
"We want to tell the whole story of the air bases, not just
Pratt or Great Bend," Martin said. They are looking for a museum to
be established somewhere and would like to use one of the hangars
as a part of it.
"I'd like to see it saved," Lockwood said. "It had a huge impact
on the direction Great Bend took in the '40s."
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