Atterbury-Bakalar Air Museum dedicated a new artifacts and restoration center designed to showcase and preserve aviation history for years to come.
Museum volunteers unveiled the Thomas Vickers/John C. Walter Artifacts and Restoration Center at a dedication ceremony Friday morning outside the museum at the Columbus Municipal Airport. About 50 people attended the dedication.
The air museum, founded in 1992, was built to capture the history of the former Atterbury Army Air Field, later named Bakalar Air Force Base, and its contributions through the years to the nation’s war effort.
The new 1,800 square-foot building will serve as a shop area and storage for artifacts for the air museum, which attracts 6,000 to 8,000 visitors a year.
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The new facility is named after two museum founding members, Vickers, who attended the ceremony, and Walter, a World War II veteran and retired Cummins engineer. Walter, a long-time museum volunteer, died in December at the age of 96. The museum is staffed primarily by retired volunteers, many of whom are military veterans.
The ceremony was held on a new patio area, which will have a canopy between the artifacts and restoration center and the existing museum that is expected to be installed later this year, said Nick Firestone, museum board president.
The $194,000 project, which was announced three years ago, was funded by donations and grants, said Jim Sellars, past board president. The Heritage Fund — The Community Foundation of Bartholomew County, provided a $20,000 grant toward the effort.
An outdoor sculpture, two propeller blades on a granite base, was unveiled during the dedication ceremony.
The sculpture is dedicated to the 434th Troop Carrier Wing/Air Refueling Wing, which was stationed at Atterbury-Bakalar from the 1940s until 1970 before the wing was moved to Grissom Air Reserve Base north of Kokomo. The sculpture was originally conceptualized through a model developed by Walter, Firestone said.
Walter’s son, Gary, who attended the dedication, said he believed his father would be very pleased that the new building was being named after him.
“He would’ve been proud,” Gary Walter said.
A 700-square-foot shop area that formerly was housed inside the museum has been converted into an aviation art gallery with donated artwork. The museum plans to add a flight simulator in the space in the future, Firestone said.
Vickers, who was presented with an honorary road sign in his name by Columbus Municipal Airport Director Brian Payne during the ceremony, said the expansion means the museum has a way to preserve history.
“It’s grown to become a prominent center,” Vickers said of the air museum, saying the expansion allows volunteers to preserve history in a first-class way.
Vickers said he was proud that the new building carries his name, and especially Walter’s name.
“As time goes on, people forget the tremendous sacrifices of our nation,” he said. “We don’t want people to forget the past.”
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The Atterbury-Bakalar Air Museum, 4742 Ray Boll Boulevard, is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday. Group tours may be scheduled.
More information: atterburybakalarairmuseum.org/
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