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ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED: JULY 11, 1992

Air museum is positive attraction for other city

By ROBERT HOOD
Of the News-Register

McMinnville's Steve Macy has had an opportunity to see firsthand what an air museum can mean to a community.

He was a member of a local team that visited the Air Adventure Museum in Oshkosh, Wis., last year and saw the direct impact the museum had on the mid-size community.

"The local folks loved the museum," Macy said. "The museum brought people, and it didn't bring pollution."

The Air Adventure Museum belongs to the Experimental Aircraft Association that, according to museum director Carl Swickley, brings in $72 million to the state of Wisconsin a year; $32 million stays in the Oshkosh area.

"I must stress that the museum itself does not generate that kind of money," Swickley said. "We have the Experimental Aircraft Association International Convention/Fly-in which brings 800,000 people to Oshkosh over an 8-day period. During that time, we have between 21,000 and 22,000 people visit the museum."

Swickley estimates that more than 150,000 people visit the museum annually.

Swickley said the association has 125,000 members in 700 chapters worldwide with 130 full-time employees in Oshkosh.

The museum opened in 1983 and is built on slightly more than 76 acres. It contains more than 110,000 square feet of exhibit space and a 30,000-square-foot lobby and conference center. The museum features four theaters and 28 video mini-theaters.

The EEA has more than 240 aircraft - the largest private collection of airplanes in the world. Airplanes are rotated in and out of the museum with about 90 planes displayed at a time.

The proposed museum in McMinnville will have at least two dozen airplanes when it opens, according to plans.

The Air Adventure Museum employs 31 full-time workers and 23 part-time employees. Volunteers contribute 30,000 hours to the museum each year, Swickley said.

Macy observed that there were lots of people in the Oshkosh community associated with the museum. "The people of Oshkosh knew they wanted the museum, and they went after it," Macy said.

The EEA and the museum originally were located in Hale's Corner, Wis. In 1970, the airshow moved to Oshkosh, and, 13 years later, the association and the museum followed.

"There were a lot of cities bidding to have the EEA and the museum relocate," Swickley said. "Oshkosh just wanted it more."

Swickley has visited McMinnville and said he feels the community would benefit from an air museum.

"Del Smith is a super guy and would do the right thing for McMinnville," Swickley said. "No two museums are alike, but I'm sure the community would feel an economic impact from a new air museum."

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