Construction will start soon for new museum hangar

PORTAGE TWP. — The Liberty Aviation Museum hopes to start work this fall on a third hangar that will give the tourist attraction a major space upgrade. The project was held up because the museum, at 3255 E. State Road in Port Clinton, needed to get Erie-Ottawa International Airport's board to approve a lease agreement. Action was delayed because the board lacked a quorum for a few months. The Erie County commissioners then appointed enough airport board members to give the board a quorum again, and the board OK'd the lease last month. With that in place, the Federal Aviation Administration can now approve paperwork for the project. That should be done around September, cleaning the way for construction to begin in September or October, the museum's CEO Ed Patrick said. The museum is also in the process of obtaining a local contractor to put up the steel structure for the hangar, Patrick said. The museum's exhibits and storage space are contained in two hangars. Plans call for building the third hangar, about 12,000 square feet, next to the hangar at the back of the museum site. The project is expected to cost nearly $2 million. Assuming that work starts this fall, the museum might be able to move in early next year, Patrick said. The new hangar will be almost identical in size to the hangar at the front of the museum site, next to the diner, but not as big as the second hangar, which has about 22,500 square feet. The expanded space will allow the museum to provide more public events, an important source of museum revenue. Such events have been harder to do because of a lack of space, and the airport has sometimes had to borrow hangar space for its Ford Trimotor aircraft. At one recent event, space was rented out for a wedding, which ended late at night. The Ford aircraft was finally wheeled back in at about 3 a.m. "It was a very, very long day," Patrick said. The Liberty Aviation Museum has also announced a schedule of northern Ohio dates for opportunities to fly in the museum's historic City of Port Clinton Ford Trimotor aircraft. Dates and times have been announced for the museum itself and for Put-in-Bay, and also for events in Elyria and New Knoxville. Full details and ticket pricing are available at the museum's website, libertyaviationmuseum.org. The museum also wants to get its new PBY Catalina flying boat back in the air. It's possible that test flights will be carried out this fall, Patrick said.