The Lockheed SR-71 dominates this view of the interior of the Stephen F. Udvar-Hazy Center, flanked by the Curtiss P-40 on the left and the Vought F4U Corsair on the right, with the Space Shuttle behind it.

The year 2011 marks a significant milestone in the history of the National Air and Space Museum (NASM). Since the opening of the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in 2003, the Museum has actively worked to complete Phase Two of the project, namely the design and construction of a state-of-the-art preservation, restoration, and storage facility. After much hard work, this has come to pass. The facilities completed during Phase Two of the Udvar-Hazy Center construction replace the Paul E. Garber Preservation, Restoration, and Storage Facility as the primary restoration and storage facility for NASM. Named after the Museum’s first curator, a visionary who collected most of the NASM’s most influential and historically significant pieces, the Garber Facility had served the Museum for 60 years. It was time for a change.

Tucked away in Silver Hill, a corner of Prince George’s County, Maryland, seven miles from downtown Washington, the Garber Facility is rather nondescript. Surrounded by rundown strip malls and gas stations, a lone Polaris missile sits upright in the parking lot along Old Silver Hill Road, next to the local fire department. Visible behind the perimeter fencing is an unobtrusive sand-colored building with a large blue-and-gold seal of the Smithsonian Institution hanging prominently on the front wall. As inconspicuous as it may be, until the opening of the Udvar-Hazy Center this was the entrance to Valhalla for the aviation enthusiast.

Paul Edward Garber, aircraft collector without peer, almost single-handedly built the world’s finest collection of aeronautical artifacts in his 70-year career at the Smithsonian Institution.

There are 33 buildings at the Garber Facility, shared between NASM, the National Museum of American History, and other support organizations of the Smithsonian. Before the move to the Udvar-Hazy Center, NASM used 23 of these buildings. Eighteen were used for shipping and receiving, dense storage, and support functions, especially as an annex for NASM’s Archives Division, and the other five contained thousands of aviation treasures. These buildings were accessible to the public for some time through specially guided tours, but in later years were closed to the public. With the completion of Phases One and Two of the Udvar-Hazy Center, the functions of many of these buildings are combined in one new massive, high-tech structure that features a restoration hangar four times larger than the one at the Garber Facility.

As extensive as the National Aeronautical Collection is, the problem of finding enough space to house the aircraft and spacecraft properly has dominated NASM’s planning since the opening of the Museum building on the National Mall in 1976. Still flush with the excitement of opening what would immediately become the world’s most popular museum, the curatorial staff was painfully aware of the space limitations placed upon future collecting. The size of the facility at Silver Hill, even after it was refurbished and renamed in Paul Garber’s honor, was insufficient to permit future growth.

Barring expansion at the Garber Facility, it would soon be impossible to collect any new military or commercial aircraft, as the size of even the smallest of these aircraft would strain the Museum’s ability to house and protect them correctly. For years the Museum had compensated for the lack of space by cobbling together off-site storage solutions and placing pieces of the collection on loan. Some of the larger artifacts, such as the Boeing 307 Stratoliner and the Boeing 367-80, were stored in the Arizona desert. Other large aircraft, such as the Curtiss NC-4, the first aircraft to fly across the Atlantic, were placed on loan to museums around the country. The Space Shuttle Enterprise and the Lockheed SR-71 Mach 3 reconnaissance aircraft had to remain behind locked doors in temporary housing at Washington Dulles International Airport. Other aircraft, such as the Boeing B-29 Superfortress Enola Gay and the Martin B-26 Marauder medium bomber Flak Bait, were left in storage with only the forward cockpits and smaller parts displayed in the Museum. For the Museum to continue to fulfill its mandate to collect and display the most historically and technologically significant aircraft and spacecraft, a long-term solution was clearly required.

What was needed was a large facility with a huge, hangar-like building located at a major airport where future aircraft could simply be flown in and taxied into position for display. This new facility would have to be situated as close to the nation’s capital as possible because it was to serve as an annex to the National Air and Space Museum on the Mall, identical in purpose to the Garber Facility only much larger. Furthermore, the new facility would allow the Museum to open the building to the public seven days a week, unlike the Garber Facility, and constitute a museum in and of itself.

The Arado Ar 196A-5 was stored outside in Suitland, Maryland, for many years.

Wing components of American and Japanese aircraft await attention while in storage at the Paul E. Garber Facility.

During the 1980s, Museum officials began searching for an appropriate location. Naturally, the search focused on Washington Dulles International Airport and Baltimore Washington International Airport, both major airports capable of handling large aircraft. They are close to major highways, facilitating aircraft movement between downtown and the proposed annex as well as providing ready access to visitors. Both were promising sites with a large surrounding population base. On January 29, 1990, the Smithsonian’s Board of Regents selected Dulles as the best solution for the Museum, primarily because of its larger size and the fact that the Space Shuttle Enterprise and other aircraft were already stored there. However, this location wasn’t finalized until after a long fight played out in the halls of Congress.

Concurrent with the Museum’s search for a new annex was the collapse of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War. With the communist threat on the wane, U.S. military expenditures were cut, including funding for numerous air bases. Realizing the closure of these military facilities could have a devastating effect on local economies, local politicians and their congressional delegations nationwide pressed their cases for establishing NASM’s annex at one of their soon-to-be-defunct bases. While clearly not in the interest of the Museum, which needed an annex close to the main building in Washington, the pressure was intense.

The magnitude of the project blinded many to the facility’s original purpose. Intended as a straightforward complex with four basic hangars, the project mushroomed, after the intervention of the Smithsonian’s senior leadership, into an expensive multidisciplinary project encompassing several other Smithsonian museums. Soon the annex was being presented as an independent museum to serve the interests of various constituencies. Denver and other metropolitan regions hoped that the presence of a large Smithsonian facility in their city would greatly increase their tax base, create jobs, and promote tourism. The fact that NASM would have to ship its restored aircraft 1,600 miles from Washington to Denver was lost in the smoke of battle.

Eventually, the massive project was scaled back to a form resembling the original idea. Senator Jake Garn of Utah led the voices of reason in persuading Denver and other interested parties to leave the annex in Washington. One cost of the victory was an agreement stipulating that the annex had to be funded primarily from private sources. While Congress would supply seed money and the Commonwealth of Virginia generously agreed to build vital roads, taxiways, and additional infrastructure, the Smithsonian was responsible for raising the bulk of the almost $300 million projected cost.

Owing to the effort of dedicated individuals and officials from federal, state, and local governments, on August 2, 1993, President William Clinton signed into law the bill authorizing the construction of the annex at Washington Dulles International Airport. The then-administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), retired U.S. Navy Vice Adm. Donald D. Engen, allocated a large parcel of land to the Museum. Admiral Engen would eventually become director of NASM, and through his untiring efforts greatly advanced the Museum’s work toward making the vision of this project a reality.

The site was eventually changed to a new location on the airport’s southeast corner; a 40-year lease was signed between the Museum and the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA) on November 12, 1998. Encompassing 176.5 acres, the site borders U.S. Highway 50 on the south and Virginia Highway 28 on the east. The 760,057-square-foot main building is located southwest of runway 01R/19L, just outside of the runway approach. Funding for the construction of a new highway interchange from Route 28 and the entrance road, including ample parking for both passenger cars and buses, was provided by the Commonwealth of Virginia. The state also provided all of the necessary infrastructure and utilities, which included clearing and grading the site. Basic fire and emergency medical support for the facility are provided by the MWAA.

Internationally recognized architectural firm Hellmuth, Obata & Kassabaum (HOK) took the lead in the design of the new building. Known for its soaring yet practical structures, HOK previously had designed the National Air and Space Museum on the Mall, and thus was very familiar with the challenges of aerospace museum design. Working closely with the Museum staff, HOK proposed several different designs intended to meet various funding goals.

The design finally selected was both the most practical and the most expensive. It entailed a building with four separate hangars, each connected to the others to keep the entire complex under cover. Each hangar building had a hangar door at one end and a dedicated exhibit gallery at the other. This massive building mimicked the design of the downtown museum while allowing the addition of new hangars in the future. A phased construction program allowed for the completion of the restoration shop, archives, and storage facilities as time and money permitted.

While planning progressed, the determined efforts to raise the $300 million necessary to build the complex had met with mixed results until a generous benefactor stepped in and made the Museum’s dream a reality. Funding had slowly accumulated through the years but the amount was clearly inadequate to begin construction. A massive consolidation of the defense and aerospace industries following the end of the Cold War eliminated many prime sources of funding and generally strapped those that remained. Tight budgets meant that few dollars remained for philanthropy.

For several years the Museum had been talking with the International Lease Finance Corporation (ILFC), the world’s largest commercial aircraft leasing company. In a meeting with Museum officials in mid-1999, ILFC’s president and chief executive officer, Mr. Steven F. Udvar-Hazy, agreed to donate a substantial sum on behalf of his company. While Museum officials were quite pleased, they were unprepared for his next statement. A refugee from the Hungarian Revolution of 1956, Mr. Udvar-Hazy had found success in his adopted country and wished to repay the nation for providing him with freedom and opportunity. Over lunch, he offered to donate an astounding $60 million of his personal fortune for the construction of the new facility. With this selfless gift—the largest gift to the Smithsonian at the time—the Museum was able to clear its financial hurdles and authorize construction. The Smithsonian Board of Regents unanimously voted to name the new facility after Mr. Udvar-Hazy.

Mr. Steven F. Udvar-Hazy (left) stands next to General J.R. “Jack” Dailey (USMC, Ret.), the director of the National Air and Space Museum.

After a careful search, the Hensel Phelps Construction Company of Greeley, Colorado, was selected to build the first phase of the Udvar-Hazy Center. In a happy ceremony on October 25, 2000, the first earth was turned. Armed with chromed shovels were William H. Rehnquist, Chief Justice of the United States and Chancellor of the Smithsonian Institution, Mr. Steven F. Udvar-Hazy and his wife Christine, Smithsonian Secretary Lawrence Small, NASM director, General J.R. “Jack” Dailey, USMC (Ret.), and Virginia’s Lieutenant Governor John R. Hagar.

Construction began on April 10, 2001, with little time to meet a scheduled opening in time for the Centennial of Flight celebrations in December 2003. For the next two and half years more than 500 workers each day from Hensel Phelps and its 80 subcontractors and vendors removed an estimated 30,000 cubic yards of earth, poured 40,000 cubic yards of concrete, and erected 6,500 tons of steel. They built 122 caissons, each 42 inches in diameter, to support the structure, assembled 87,000 square feet of masonry, put in 209,000 square feet of metal paneling, and installed 12 miles of Walker ducting for electrical and communications cabling. By February 2002, the first of the massive trusses for the aviation hangar was erected. The hangar roof was in place by September 2002, followed quickly by the huge hangar doors. Thick concrete flooring was also poured during this time, as construction workers hurried to complete a myriad of tasks.

Concurrent with the hangar construction was the assembly of the Donald E. Engen Tower. Named in honor of Admiral Engen, the late director of NASM and former head of the FAA who had worked so tirelessly toward this goal before his untimely death in 1999, the 160-foot-high tower was begun in the fall of 2001; its metal cab structure was completed by late 2002. The tower houses a large observation deck for visitors to view the workings of Washington Dulles International Airport and learn about the complexities of air traffic control in exhibits provided by the FAA.

Thanks to a generous contribution by the James McDonnell Foundation, construction of the James S. McDonnell Space Hangar commenced in March 2002. This fortuitous gift has allowed the Museum to display its unique collection of space artifacts, featuring the Space Shuttle Enterprise, the atmospheric test vehicle for the space shuttle program. NASM is slated to acquire a flown shuttle when the program comes to its conclusion.

Once the Museum took possession of the Udvar-Hazy Center from the builder in early 2003, the collections management staff faced the daunting task of moving the aircraft, spacecraft, and other artifacts. The bulk of these artifacts were moved miles over open road from the Garber Facility to the Udvar-Hazy Center. The staff had been cleaning, repairing, and preparing the aircraft for the move for several years. All of the aircraft were prepositioned and then delivered in a carefully worked out sequence to minimize delivery and installation problems. They were transported by large tractor-trailers, usually at night to minimize traffic delays.

The proximity of the Udvar-Hazy Center to Dulles International Airport proved its usefulness when moving other pieces of the collection into place. For years the Museum had stored several aircraft, as well as the Space Shuttle Enterprise, in temporary buildings at Dulles; these were moved to the Udvar-Hazy Center and installed with relative ease. The Museum’s Grumman A-6 Intruder Navy attack jet was retrieved from storage at nearby Andrews Air Force Base.

Other large aircraft were flown to Dulles and briefly kept outside until their turn came for installation. For more than a decade, the Boeing Company had generously restored two historic aircraft on behalf of the Museum—the 307 Stratoliner and the 367-80, also known as the “Dash-80.” Because of the great size of these two aircraft, the restoration contracts with Boeing stated that both aircraft were to be restored to flying condition because overland transport would be too difficult. After many years of dedicated work by employees and volunteers, both aircraft were readied for their final flights east from Boeing’s facilities in Seattle, Washington. Although Boeing always knew that the aircraft were to join the rest of the National Aeronautical Collection at the Udvar-Hazy Center, more than a few tears were shed when they lifted off for Dulles.

In 1989, Air France signed a letter of agreement to donate a graceful BAC/Aerospatiale Concorde supersonic transport to the National Air and Space Museum upon the aircraft’s retirement. On June 12, 2003, Air France honored that agreement by donating Concorde F-BVFA(205) to the Museum upon completion of its last flight, flying it in directly to the Udvar-Hazy Center.

The striking architecture of the Udvar-Hazy Center is immediately apparent to visitors.

While staff loaded and unloaded the aircraft, other workers moved the aircraft into position using cranes, forklifts, tractors, and elbow grease. The responsible curators, the chief designer, and the collections management team had worked out the precise placement of the aircraft ahead of time to ensure that the aircraft fit into the building, were displayed attractively, and were exhibited thematically. On the surface a simple task, in practice it was far more difficult. However, through the use of computer imaging and great attention to detail by the chief designer, William “Jake” Jacobs, the job was accomplished in time.

The Boeing B-29 Superfortress Enola Gay was the first aircraft moved into the Udvar-Hazy Center. The centerpiece of the new building, the Enola Gay required special treatment because of its size, central location, and unique display. The Museum’s restoration staff shipped the famous bomber to Dulles in sections and reassembled the massive aircraft on the floor. Special stands were fabricated to present the aircraft eight feet off the ground to allow visitors safe access to the underside of the aircraft and its bomb bay. Other World War II-vintage aircraft were positioned underneath the Enola Gay as they were completed to maximize the existing floor space.

While all of the largest and heaviest aircraft are displayed on the floor, the rest of the aircraft are suspended in two levels from the massive roof structure, which like the main NASM building on the National Mall was designed specifically for this purpose. Each of the trusses is designed to support up to 20,000 pounds equally along its span, which is the equivalent of the empty weight of two World War II-vintage fighters. Cables from specially designed attachment points on the triangular trusses suspend the aircraft. In order to maximize the viewing potential of each artifact, the aircraft are suspended either 25 feet or 42 feet above the floor.

The first phase of construction, which encompassed the main aircraft and spacecraft hangars, the Engen Tower, an IMAX® theater, restaurants, a gift shop, and offices, opened to the public on December 15, 2003, as part of the 100th anniversary celebration of the Wright brothers’ first powered flight.

The Udvar-Hazy Center’s location at Washington Dulles International Airport makes possible direct delivery flights of aircraft to the National Air and Space Museum. Here, a tractor tows the Concorde supersonic transport into position while the Boeing 307 Stratoliner, the world’s first pressurized airliner, waits its turn.

Historically significant aircraft such as the Boeing B-29 Enola Gay, which dropped the first atomic bomb (top), the black Northrop P-61 Black Widow night fighter (center), and the Northrop N1M flying wing (bottom) grace the Boeing Aviation Hangar at the Udvar-Hazy Center. The Mary Baker Engen RestorationHangar provides four times more floor space than the restoration shop at the Garber Facility. Shown on the floor is the fuselage of the Sikorsky JRS flying boat, a survivor of the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941.

Flush with success and anxious to increase the preservation, restoration, and storage capabilities of the Museum, NASM staff began taking steps to get the second phase of construction off the ground. NASM’s development office worked closely with the Museum’s board to identify and secure the $55 million of donations necessary to build the new wing, which came to be known as “Phase Two.” In a show of support for the Museum’s mission to promote aerospace education, much of the money came from the generosity of board members themselves. In 2008, Airbus Americas, Inc., gave $6 million, enough funding for the Museum to begin building.

Architects Hellmuth, Obata & Kassabaum were called upon to design Phase Two, tasked with creating an addition to the Udvar-Hazy Center that would meet the Museum’s restoration, preservation, and storage needs. The proposed design, which was heartily embraced, consisted of a large rectangular structure built alongside the southwest wall of the Boeing Aviation Hangar, immediately south of the James S. McDonnell Space Hangar. While a separate building, the area would be joined directly to the original building through a series of internal, interconnecting walkways, several of which would lead to a dramatic overlook of the restoration shop. The conservation laboratory, Archives facilities, and deep storage were put on the southernmost end of the structure, with office facilities for Museum staff scattered throughout. The construction company Hensel Phelps was selected to execute the design; having worked with Hellmuth, Obata & Kassabaum on Phase One of the project, things went smoothly. The construction of Phase Two was completed in 2011.

The Mary Baker Engen Restoration Hangar provides four times more floor space than the restoration shop at the Garber Facility. Shown on the floor is the fuselage of the Sikorsky JRS flying boat, a survivor of the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941.

The Mary Baker Engen Restoration Hangar, named in honor of Mary Engen–Admiral Engen’s widow and previous board member—was made possible by a $15 million donation from D. Travis and Anne Engen. The Restoration Hangar was designed to provide a modern, environmentally controlled workspace for the restoration, preservation, and treatment of aircraft and spacecraft while maximizing public education opportunities. Glass-enclosed and visible to the public from catwalks that connect the main building to the new wing, visitors to the Restoration Hangar can watch restoration technicians at work while learning from accompanying exhibits about the artifacts and restoration techniques they are seeing.

The Mary Baker Engen Restoration Hangar is four times the size of the restoration space in the Garber Facility, allowing the Museum to restore more aircraft and spacecraft at a time than was possible before. The new space also lets technicians keep the larger aircraft in the collection in once piece during restoration; at the Garber Facility they could only be restored piecemeal.

Important work also takes place behind the scenes, in the Museum’s Archives, a state-of-the-art research facility where up to 16 researchers at a time are able to access the 12,000 cubic feet of original documents, 1.75 million photographs, and 14,000 films and videos. Among the Archives Division’s holdings is a huge collection of structural drawings for hundreds of different aircraft. This invaluable repository provides priceless assistance to the curatorial and restoration staff for preserving NASM’s aircraft, as well as information for restoration of aircraft in private hands. Moreover, the Archives Division maintains the corporate and personal papers of significant companies and individuals.

Although they are the most visible artifacts in the collection, there is far more to the National Air and Space Museum than aircraft and engines. Much of the Museum’s collection of spacesuits, full- and partial-pressure suits, leather flight jackets, military, commercial, and civilian uniforms, and other memorabilia are on display and in deep storage at the Udvar-Hazy Center. Artifacts on display are housed in open storage and specially designed thematic display cases and exhibit stations.

Most of the collections not on display are now kept in well-protected, climate-controlled rooms under the watchful care of the Collections Processing Unit staff of professionals. Special storage units hold unique objects in ideal environments based on the needs of the objects. Compact shelving maximizes the available storage space so that the Museum’s most valuable artifacts will remain preserved for future generations to enjoy.

Named for the Emil Buehler Foundation, which was the primary donor for this facility, the Emil Buehler Conservation Laboratory is where highly trained conservators examine, treat, and preserve smaller artifacts for exhibit and storage, and assist the restoration technicians in assessing the preservation needs of larger artifacts such as our aircraft.

The successful completion of Phases One and Two of the Udvar-Hazy Center finds the National Air and Space Museum in a better position than ever to fulfill the Smithsonian’s mission to increase and diffuse knowledge. The new facilities offer an improved capacity for ongoing historical and technical research in aerospace history and technology and strengthen the collection overall through increased preservation, restoration, and storage capabilities.

These facilities also broaden access to the Smithsonian’s collections and improve the visitor experience, supporting NASM’s goal to educate and inspire. Thanks to the new buildings, more of NASM’s vast 60,000-object collection is on view than ever before and will be available to the public for decades to come.

As completed, Phase Two is immediately south of the James S. McDonnell Space Hangar.