Published Friday, March 19, 1999 Members of the nonprofit Pittsburgh organization have been peddling the idea of an air and space museum at Pittsburgh International Airport for nearly a decade. Rebuffed by that county, the group has now set its sights on Mercer County.
Word of the museum being proposed for Mercer County publicly surfaced Tuesday when Pennsylvania unveiled its proposed state budget. Parked in one section of the budget is a $25 million request from Mercer County to house the estimated $200 million museum here.
Mercer County Commissioner Chairman Richard Stevenson said the county is supporting the idea, but it's up to the Aviation Foundation to attract funds from other public, private and nonprofit groups.
"Mercer County was on our original list of candidates for the museum'' said Bill Sprague, who chairs the foundation's museum project.
The small foundation, composed mainly of airplane and space enthusiasts, liked Mercer County because Prime Outlets at Grove City attracts more than 4.5 million people annually and because Interstate 79 runs through the county, Sprague said.
Although no site has been chosen, the group would like to build somewhere near the Springfield Township outlet mall, he added.
Pittsburgh didn't work out as a site because "we recognized the political agenda in Pittsburgh was for stadiums and convention centers,'' Sprague said.
Last year the state Legislature approved public funds for new stadiums for the Pittsburgh Pirates and Steelers along with money for the city's convention center.
Plans call for the 700,000-square-foot museum in Mercer County to be completed by 2002, in time for the 100th anniversary of manned flight.
A feasibility study is under way to determine a good site and format for the building.
"We're not talking about a place with just a bunch of airplanes just sitting around,'' Sprague said. "We think this could be a magnificent cultural attraction for Mercer County and the surrounding area.''
Sprague envisions a museum that has rotating exhibits with an attached educational and "interaction center'' that houses items like flight simulators that people could use. Visitors would be charged a fee.
The Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., has been contacted about exhibiting stored items from its air and space museum, Sprague said, adding that the Smithsonian has been receptive.
The foundation doesn't have the resources to build the museum on its own, Sprague said. Securing funding will be difficult, but Sprague said he hopes the foundation can pull it off.
Larry Reichard, executive director of Penn-Northwest Development Corp., said his agency will help the foundation. Penn-Northwest is the county's lead marketing agency.
"If it happens, it can be a wonderful asset for the community,'' Reichard said. "But this has a long ways to go.''
