posted 12-03-2008 07:20 AM               

The expansion of the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center received a significant boost yesterday with a $6 million commitment from Airbus Americas Inc., the largest corporate gift this year to the Smithsonian Institution.

The donation by the aircraft manufacturer, announced at the cavernous outpost of the National Air and Space Museum near Dulles International Airport, will go to the completion of the second phase of the facility's expansion, an addition that will house restoration work, collection archives and a conservation laboratory. All those activities have been housed since the 1950s at the Paul E. Garber complex in Suitland, in less than ideal conditions.

The expansion plan was included in the original vision for Udvar-Hazy, which opened in 2003. But because of slow fundraising, Phase 2 was delayed, driving up the price tag.

posted 03-26-2009 09:19 PM               

U-H is still one of my favorite museums.