Update on Aviation Heritage Museum
Work on a South Mississippi museum is taking off and is one step closer to completion, thanks to some U.S. Navy volunteers and others who have been hard at work.
It’s been a long time in the making, but progress on a new museum in Gulfport is taking flight. The Mississippi Aviation Heritage Museum is sponsored by the John C. Robinson Brown Condor Association. While the museum is a way to honor their pioneering namesake and other Mississippi aviators, one of the main goals is to inspire the next generation of aviators on the Coast.
John C. Robinson Brown Condor Association Board President Mark Stringer said, “We have a unique position where not only can we promote aviation as a career to young people growing up in Gulfport, but at the same time emphasize science, technology, engineering, and math in their education school, the STEM program.”
Once completed, the museum will hold artifacts from all periods of Mississippi aviation history from airplanes to cockpit simulators and all kinds of aviation uniforms.
Located on Pass Road, the museum has relied on donations from across the country and volunteers to help meet their projected opening date of October 1st. Recently they’ve received help in a big way.
Nearly 30 crew members from pre-commissioning unit Tripoli, a Navy ship under construction in Pascagoula, have volunteered their time on Saturdays helping to renovate the building. Petty Officer 1st Class Paolo Angelo Reyes said, “For the past three weeks, we do woodworking, make sure the walls are up, general cleaning, painting of the outside and inside.”
“We’ve never had that much labor before at one time and it’s really speeded up the process. We’re not as worried as much about meeting our deadline now because of their help,” said Stringer.
Stringer is hopeful that the museum can provide a spark to the Pass Road area as well. “It’ll bring more traffic in this area. I think it might revitalize this part of Pass Road, at least a catalyst for that.”
Volunteers are excited to see their hard work soon become a reality. “I think it’s a good experience to see what we did in here as a command in this community.”
For more information on the museum, visit the Brown Condor Association’s website.
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