The Washington State Department of Archeology & Historic Preservation has placed the Naval Air Station Pasco Control Tower & Hangar on the Washington State Heritage Register.
This local landmark is now recognized for its contribution to Washington’s heritage. It joins 1,600 other historic and culturally significant properties on the Washington State Heritage Registry, according to officials.
Naval Air Station Pasco served as a flight training base for the Navy during World War II and became one of the busiest Navy training bases in the United States with nearly 2,000 cadets receiving their wings.
Completed in 1942, the building, located on Stearman Avenue in the Industrial Park of the Tri Cities Airport (KPSC), served as the control tower for the Naval Air Station during World War II. It later served as the first airline terminal for commercial air carriers serving the Tri-Cities.
Today it houses the Pasco Aviation Museum, which displays a wide variety of exhibits chronicling the growth and development of aviation and its contribution to the Tri-Cities economy.
“Being placed on the State Heritage Register is exciting because it opens doors for us in our continued quest to enhance and develop our ability to tell the story of the importance of aviation to the Tri-Cities area,” said Malin Bergstrom, president of the Pasco Aviation Museum. “The growth and development of the museum is the result of the hard work by a cadre of hard-working volunteers who have given much of themselves to make this dream a reality.”
The building that houses the museum is the property of the Port of Pasco, which owns the airport.
“The importance of aviation to the economic growth of the entire Tri-Cities area is often overlooked. The Port is a strong supporter of the volunteer effort to preserve Pasco’s aviation heritage as it continues to grow and expand its activities in this historic structure. We are proud of what they have accomplished, to date, and look forward to continued progress,” said Port of Pasco Board President Jean Ryckman.
The museum is set to reopen to the public on Saturday, April 20, 2024, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. It will remain open each Saturday until next winter, museum officials said.
“We are excited to reopen the museum because we have completed restoration of the third and fourth floors of the actual control tower, capturing what life was like for the officers, trainees, and enlisted personnel who served here,” said Bergstrom.
Visitors to the museum will experience new exhibits, an expanded gift shop, and an opportunity for an open cockpit biplane flight experience in the museum’s 1943 Boeing Stearman, according to museum officials.
For more information: 509-521-7117, PascoAviationMuseum.org