1940 air terminal museum
A project for the Houston Aeronautical Heritage Society, the 1940 Air Terminal Museum is located in the historic original Houston Municipal Airport Terminal at Hobby Airport. The museum showcases Houston's civil aviation history.
Originally built in 1940 and designed by noted Houston architect Joseph Finger, the Houston Air Terminal building had been vacant since the 1980's and had fallen into disrepair. Unique for Houston, when a new, larger airport was needed in the 1950's, the new Hobby Airport Terminal was built on open land leaving the original terminal building intact. It served numerous purposes in the succeeding years but was eventually abandoned. Remarkably it was never substantially altered or demolished making it a rare existing example of a terminal building from aviation's Golden Age.
In 1998, the Houston Aeronautical Heritage Society was formed with the express purpose to save this important historic structure. They acquired a long-term lease from the City of Houston, and planning for the building's renovation commenced. This ongoing project has been completed as funding becomes available, with the first phase opening in 2003 and the second phase opening in 2009. The first phase introduced air conditioning, removed dangerous and rotting plaster, and made the building occupiable for the museum. The second phase saw the extensive restoration of the first floor, including the main lobby. This required careful recreation of period details, extensive new plaster work, careful light fixture selection and upgrading of the existing restrooms. Eventual plans call for restoring the upper floors, making the observation decks usable, and introducing an elevator to provide required accessibility.
Originally built in 1940 and designed by noted Houston architect Joseph Finger, the Houston Air Terminal building had been vacant since the 1980's and had fallen into disrepair. Unique for Houston, when a new, larger airport was needed in the 1950's, the new Hobby Airport Terminal was built on open land leaving the original terminal building intact. It served numerous purposes in the succeeding years but was eventually abandoned. Remarkably it was never substantially altered or demolished making it a rare existing example of a terminal building from aviation's Golden Age.
In 1998, the Houston Aeronautical Heritage Society was formed with the express purpose to save this important historic structure. They acquired a long-term lease from the City of Houston, and planning for the building's renovation commenced. This ongoing project has been completed as funding becomes available, with the first phase opening in 2003 and the second phase opening in 2009. The first phase introduced air conditioning, removed dangerous and rotting plaster, and made the building occupiable for the museum. The second phase saw the extensive restoration of the first floor, including the main lobby. This required careful recreation of period details, extensive new plaster work, careful light fixture selection and upgrading of the existing restrooms. Eventual plans call for restoring the upper floors, making the observation decks usable, and introducing an elevator to provide required accessibility.