Electrical unions have donated $25,200 for renovations to a local museum.
IBEW 252 - Ann Arbor Electrical workers union and the National Electrical Contractors Association have announced their donation to the Yankee Air Museum in Belleville.
The Yankee Air Museum is currently raising funds for the renovation and move to the old Willow Run Bomber Plant. The project is estimated to cost $32 million, and $12 million has already been raised, said Elisa Guyton, museum associate development director.
The “Save the Bomber Plant” campaign began in 2013 when the museum decided the plant would be its new location, Guyton said. The museum will move into the 3 percent of the plant that is left, with the rest of it being demolished in 2016, she said.
The museum made the decision to move because “it just made sense,” Guyton said. The new location has 144,000 square feet, compared to the museum’s current space of 28,000 square feet.
“We recognize that if we want to be a museum of the future -- something that’s reputable -- we want to be where people come and they leave going, ‘Wow, I need to come back and do that again.’ We know that we need to think about exhibits differently and really truly immerse people.”
Part of the campaign is also raising money for a new hangar. The museum's Hangar 1 was recently decommissioned by the Wayne County Airport Authority due to safety issues. By September 2020, $3 million has to be raised for the new hangar, Guyton said.
The move-in date at the new location, Guyton said, depends on when they raise the funds.
“If it’s the pace we’re going at now, it might be another eight years, but if we found the right supporter that give us what we needed then we’d be about two to three years out," she said.
An event officially announcing the IBEW 252 and NECA’s donation will take place Friday, May 24, at the air museum.
For more information on the museum, or to donate, click here.
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