The Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum is expanding its Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Virginia.
This is the first major change to the center’s public areas since its opening in 2003, according to museum officials.
Additional display space will be added to the north end of the Boeing Aviation Hangar, increasing its size by 20%. The additional 44,000 square feet of space will allow the museum to bring artifacts out of storage and display new acquisitions.
Construction is anticipated to be complete at the end of 2028, at which point the museum will begin to move artifacts into this new space.
“We are excited for this expansion of our world-class facility in Virginia,” said Chris Browne, the John and Adrienne Mars Director of the museum. “Adding on to the Udvar-Hazy Center will allow us to offer even more to the public and will give us a chance to make major changes to the arrangement of artifacts in the entire center, enhancing the experience for our visitors.”
The expansion of the Udvar-Hazy Center creates an opportunity to rearrange the current configuration of aircraft in the Aviation Hangar, museum officials added.
This will start before construction is complete and continue for several years after.
While plans are still being finalized, some of the artifacts from the museum’s collection that are planned for display after the expansion are the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress “Shoo Shoo Shoo Baby” and the Martin B-26 Marauder “Flak-Bait,” both of which have never been displayed at the center fully assembled.
Others include the restored Sikorsky JRS-1, a Pearl Harbor survivor; the de Havilland DH-98B Mosquito; and the Franklin “Texaco Eaglet.”
The museum expects to receive new acquisitions that will also go on display prior to construction completion, officials noted.
The Udvar-Hazy Center will remain open during construction.
Congress authorized the Smithsonian to build the Air and Space Museum extension at Washington Dulles International Airport in 1992. Udvar-Hazy was opened in 2003, in time to celebrate the centennial of the Wright brothers’ first flight. In 2011, the museum finished construction on its collections spaces that house archives as well as conservation and restoration work, a portion of which is on public view.
Like the rest of the center, the expansion will be privately funded.
The museum is currently undergoing a $60 million campaign to secure funding for the addition. Support for the expansion so far has been provided by Steven and Christine Udvar-Hazy, Charles and Lisa Simonyi, Sarah and Ross Perot Jr., the Thomas W. Haas Foundation, and the Air Lease Corp.
The Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center is located in Chantilly, Virginia, near Washington Dulles International Airport and is open every day except Dec. 25 from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Admission is free. Parking is $15. The National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C., is located at Jefferson Drive between Fourth and Seventh streets S.W. and is open every day except Dec. 25 from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Admission is free, but timed-entry passes are required to visit.
For more information: AirAndSpace.SI.edu
Everyone should go there if they have any interest in airplanes. Fabulous museum.