Frontiers Of Flight Museum Finally Taking Off In Dallas

If you've ever spent a couple of hours at Dallas Love Field (TX), you probably had a chance to check out the Frontiers of Flight Museum in what used to be the airport's Luau Room. That five-thousand square feet held barely 10-percent of the museum's total assets, even though the room was crammed floor-to-ceiling with models, photos and memorabilia. It was a great place to visit, but boy, you could get claustrophobia in there.

Ever since it was founded in 1988, the people who run Frontiers of Flight have been trying to get a bigger, permanent space to display its wonderful collections. But there are a lot of charities with which the museum has had to compete. Especially in the dark days after 9/11, contributions have been hard to drum up.

But those days appear to be over for the Frontiers of Flight Museum. After waiting for 15 years, backers of the museum are building a 100,000 sq. ft. facility on the eastern edge of Love Field.

"We should finish construction at the end of March," said Dan Hamilton, executive director for the museum, in an interview with the Dallas Morning News. "We should open for business by late April or early May."

The breakthrough came in the form of a $7.2 million grant from the Texas Department of Transportation back in 2000. Museum executives combined that with the $1.8 they'd already raised and promptly broke ground.

"It's not just a building with some airplanes in it," said Romona Upfield, a museum board member and longtime pilot. "It will be so much more. It will appeal to all ages." Some 60,000 sq. ft. of the new facility will be dedicated to static aircraft displays. Among the aircraft there will be a Vietnam-era Huey helicopter and a hot air balloon. Another 20,000 feet will be used for hands-on exhibits for kids. There will also be a theater, gift shop, banquet room and meeting roo Already, the still-under-construction facility has been booked for a wedding reception and a high school reunion.

"We'll be cleaning beer cans out of these airplanes within a week," Hamilton jokes.

FMI: www.flightmuseum.com