Museum of Flight takes pricey gamble to nab Space Shuttle
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SEATTLE -- The Museum of Flight is taking a pricey gamble that could hit the jackpot - or go bust.
The opportunity to display a soon to be retired Space Shuttle is at stake.
The museum is going to build a $12 million facility to display the shuttle, but even if it's built, the shuttle may still not come.
NASA has retired three shuttles that it is offering to museums across the country. Two of them have been to space -- Endeavour and Atlantis.
NASA doesn't make the decision for several months, but requires that a facility already be in place for consideration.
The museum board decided to go ahead with construction and compete with about 20 other museums going for the shuttles.
So, what happens if they build it, and they don't come?
"At this time, we really can't say," said Michael Bush, director of marketing and public relations for the museum. "We don't have plans for it, we have every intention of getting the shuttle.
"There's a lot of competition and other great facilities but we think we have the finest museum definitely on the west coast."
Bush also says the Museum of Flight has a strong educational program and that should assure it gets one of the shuttles. It would go on the south side of the air park, and the building would have to be quite large as the shuttle itself is about a third the length of a football field and as tall as a five-story building.
The museum is about 2/3 the way toward collecting the needed funds -- $5 million has already been raised through private donations, and $3 million is allocated in the state budget. The museum hopes to raise the other $4 million from public donations.
They have not set a date on when construction will start, but if all goes according to plan, a shuttle could be here as early as July 2011.
The opportunity to display a soon to be retired Space Shuttle is at stake.
The museum is going to build a $12 million facility to display the shuttle, but even if it's built, the shuttle may still not come.
NASA has retired three shuttles that it is offering to museums across the country. Two of them have been to space -- Endeavour and Atlantis.
NASA doesn't make the decision for several months, but requires that a facility already be in place for consideration.
The museum board decided to go ahead with construction and compete with about 20 other museums going for the shuttles.
So, what happens if they build it, and they don't come?
"At this time, we really can't say," said Michael Bush, director of marketing and public relations for the museum. "We don't have plans for it, we have every intention of getting the shuttle.
"There's a lot of competition and other great facilities but we think we have the finest museum definitely on the west coast."
Bush also says the Museum of Flight has a strong educational program and that should assure it gets one of the shuttles. It would go on the south side of the air park, and the building would have to be quite large as the shuttle itself is about a third the length of a football field and as tall as a five-story building.
The museum is about 2/3 the way toward collecting the needed funds -- $5 million has already been raised through private donations, and $3 million is allocated in the state budget. The museum hopes to raise the other $4 million from public donations.
They have not set a date on when construction will start, but if all goes according to plan, a shuttle could be here as early as July 2011.
