Politics & Government
Aviation Museum Strives to Survive Amid Base Closure
Delaware Valley Historical Aircraft Association is in talks with Franklin Institute, but its lease with the Navy expires Thursday, making future uncertain.
For more than 25 years, the (DVHAA) has worked to preserve pieces of aviation history at its Wings of Freedom Museum.
Now, the nonprofit, volunteer-run group is trying to preserve its own future flight.
DVHAA leases land for plane restoration, as well as for museum space from the Navy. As part of the military's plans to vacate the base, that lease expires on Thursday, and it is not clear if the Navy will extend the lease, or force DVHAA to vacate the property.
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“After the 31st, the best that anyone will tell us is that we can be evicted at any moment without notice,” DVHAA board member Fred Hagen said. “We’re being backed into a very precarious position.”
The Navy has been working for several months with the Horsham Land Reuse Authority finalizing a temporary lease to the HLRA, which would then sublease the property to the DVHAA.
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But, until those arrangements are formalized, DVHAA officials worry that they are vulnerable to losing the museum site on Route 611 and the air base grounds currently used to restore aircraft.
Marty Schy, Willow Grove air station Base Realignment and Closure program coordinator, did not return a call for comment.
Navy Spokeswoman Sherri Jones said she was under the impression that the base’s captain would extend DVHAA’s lease for another month while the arrangements are finalized with the HLRA, but was unable to confirm that for certain.
HLRA executive director Mike McGee said Monday, as he has for the past two months, that only a few minimal outstanding items remain, and that a lease is “inevitable.” The difficulty, according to McGee, is that the issues remaining are matters involving liability, in particular over the use of oil and diesel fuel.
“If an oil tank breaks, and oil gets into the ground, who’s responsible?” McGee asked. “The answer’s real simple. The (HLRA’s) responsible.”
McGee said he’s working to make sure insurance and performance bonds are in place so the HLRA is “not on the hook.”
McGee said he’s hoping to have a lease arrangement finalized and ready for approval at the HLRA’s next meeting, April 20.
The DVHAA museum, along with much of the sprawling 1,100-acre air base, is in the early stages of a lengthy redevelopment process. So far, have been submitted by entities—including DVHAA—to acquire a portion of the available 892 acres.
In the interim until the HLRA, and later the federal government, determines the base’s future property owners, DVHAA hopes to stay at its current location.
“We’re ready to take the next step. All we need is a lease,” said DVHAA board member Col. Gregory L. Marston, an A-10 pilot of 28 years. “This will allow us to start working on our future.”
In terms of its future, DVHAA has set its sights on relocating operations to two Army Reserve buildings off Horsham Road, although DVHAA has submitted applications showing four other locations, including its current facility. The hangar space alone at the Army Reserve area would be three times the size of the existing museum, Marston said.
In one of the plans, DVHAA’s museum—which Marston said would be renamed the Wings of Freedom Aviation Museum of Horsham—would be part of an , as proposed by the Bucks County Airport Authority.
In another, sponsored by , DVHAA’s aircraft display area would be central to park land, walkways and an amphitheater.
Still another possibility in the pipeline, and one that could flex the fundraising muscle, is a partnership with the Franklin Institute, according to DVHAA board member Freg Hagen.
“The Franklin Institute has always had an interest in aviation,” Hagen said. “But they don’t have the footprint in Center City to realize their ambitions.”
The solution?
An annex of the Franklin Institute in Horsham that would provide room for aircraft and “almost unlimited space,” Hagen said.
Hagen, a commercial building contractor who works in Bensalem and lives in Furlong, said he’s been discussing the “ongoing process” with Franklin Institute CEO Dennis Wint for the last eight or nine months.
“They are fully engaged in this. They are very, very interested and waiting for the outcome of the meetings we’re having with Horsham,” Hagen said. “They’re ready to get involved any time it makes sense.”
Franklin Institute spokeswoman Kat Stein confirmed that the parties have engaged in “introductory conversations.”
“There is nothing definite either way, and we will continue to talk,” Stein said.
While the interest of the Franklin Institute is promising, DVHAA has not rested all hopes there. When lease discussions prompted the HLRA to ask DVHAA about its financial standing, Hagen reached out to the Lenfest Foundation for support. In response, chair Gerry Lenfest wrote a letter pledging financial support.
“You have a diamond in the rough that can be polished into a gem for the benefit of future generations,” Gerry Lenfest wrote to the HLRA. “If their proposal is approved, we will help provide financial support to DVHAA.”
But, the more pressing issue before DVHAA’s proposal is approved is the extension of its lease. Without it, the group is “just another entity trying to propose something on the base,” Hagen said, adding that nothing can really be accomplished until a sublease is in hand.
“You get over a number of hurdles, they give you more hurdles,” Hagen said. “The danger is the Navy will pull the rug out from under us.”
And to further prove its commitment to preserving early flight history and staying a vital participant in that, Marston said DVHAA is prepared to take a drastic step if necessary—selling off a part of its more than $1 million inventory. About half of the nearly two dozen planes are on loan, and the other half are owned by DVHAA outright.
“This is kind of an act of desperation,” Marston said, adding that aircraft would be sold as a last resort and only if necessitated by failure. “We don’t want to go there.”
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