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[textarea]Hangar is just too big for Concorde museum
A historic hangar at Filton airfield has been virtually ruled out as a new Concorde museum – because it's too big.
Heritage Concorde Tech, which wants to see the supersonic plane return to the skies, believes the hangar would be the ideal place to house Concorde as well as the Bristol Aviation Collection which is currently at RAF Kemble.
Steve de Sausmarez, founder of the group who lives in Leamington Spa, said: "Concorde 216 G-BOAF was the last Concorde built anywhere in the world, and of course the very last one to fly in November 2003.
"During her final flight she flew back to her birthplace, to Filton to form a major part of a new planned Bristol aviation museum.
"The plan was to house the whole of the Bristol Aviation Collection, known as the BAC, in one building, a centre to celebrate Bristol's incredible aviation history, and let us not forget that Bristol led the world.
"But like so many things in this fast changing world, ideas and directions soon change and as in this case not for the better.
"With next year's closure of Filton airfield, one incredible heritage building stands at risk of being ripped down and lost forever, the Brabazon Hangar.
"So why not use this building as the centre of the history of Bristol's aviation and space industry, and in memory of the man who started it all, Sir George White.
"It's large enough to form one of the most incredible museums in the world; it would be able to house the whole BAC collection with Concorde 216 at the centre, where she was built. This idea needs to be looked into and not dismissed so easily by the people leading the effort for the new museum."
But the Evening Post has learnt that the Concorde Trust, a registered charity which was set up to create a museum for the plane, has all but ruled out the gigantic hangar – which housed the production line for the first Concorde built at Filton – because of its sheer size.
The maintenance costs would be overwhelming, let alone the heating costs for the huge structure.
The hangar can also only be reached by driving through the Airbus factory which means that any visitors would have to be bussed from an off-site car park.
Oliver Dearden, chairman of the Bristol Aero Collection, said: "It's an iconic building but it's extremely big – you could easily get six Concordes in there, let alone one.
"The size alone creates problems with running and maintenance costs but the other big problem is that there is no public access.
"Visitors would have to be taken by coach from an off-site car park which would not be a very suitable arrangement in the long term.
"I don't think any idea should ever be ruled out completely but I think it would be more prudent to pursue the other options."
The trust won planning permission for a site near the end of the runway, close to the back of the Vue Cinema at Cribbs Causeway but a £2.9 million funding bid to the Heritage Lottery Fund was turned down. Since then, it has emerged that the airfield's owners, BAe Systems, wants to close it down at the end of next year which raises questions about its future.
The 350-acre site would provide enough room to build between 3,000-3,500 new homes, making an estimated net profit for the company of about £120 million.
But South Gloucestershire Council, the local planning authority, has made clear one of the conditions if the airfield was redeveloped, would be to "secure the Concorde museum and the long-term legacy of aviation at Filton".
The council has now closed its consultation exercise over the future of the airfield and council officials are currently drawing up a report to put before councillors.
The Brabazon Hangar, which is currently not in use, is being marketed for sale or rent by BAE Systems.
A spokeswoman for the company said: "The hangar has been most recently used for the maintenance and painting of aircraft.
"It's now available for sale or let and we are in discussions with a number of interested parties."
The hangar covers a total area of 405,000 sq.ft but the actual hangar space is 250,000 sq. ft.
The shopping area at Sainsbury's supermarket off Winterstoke Road covers 50,000 sq ft while Asda Walmart is nearly 100,000 sq. ft.[/textarea]
http://www.thisisbristol.co.uk/Hangar-j ... story.html
I am amazed at the suggestion that this iconic building could be demolished. In the immediate post-WW2 decades Bristol's council acted like an urban vandal and allowed numerous buildings to be pulled down and lost forever, many of which would be saved in today's more enlightened environment.
It's beyond belief that the Brabazon Hangar is not a listed building if, as the report suggests, that is the case.
Filton, though within the Bristol urban sprawl, is outside the municipal boundary and in the area of the South Gloucestershire Unitary Authority.
That authority has done some daft things in the past too but it's good to know they've imposed a condition on any airfield redevelopment that secures a Concorde museum and the long-term legacy of aviation at Filton.
A historic hangar at Filton airfield has been virtually ruled out as a new Concorde museum – because it's too big.
Heritage Concorde Tech, which wants to see the supersonic plane return to the skies, believes the hangar would be the ideal place to house Concorde as well as the Bristol Aviation Collection which is currently at RAF Kemble.
Steve de Sausmarez, founder of the group who lives in Leamington Spa, said: "Concorde 216 G-BOAF was the last Concorde built anywhere in the world, and of course the very last one to fly in November 2003.
"During her final flight she flew back to her birthplace, to Filton to form a major part of a new planned Bristol aviation museum.
"The plan was to house the whole of the Bristol Aviation Collection, known as the BAC, in one building, a centre to celebrate Bristol's incredible aviation history, and let us not forget that Bristol led the world.
"But like so many things in this fast changing world, ideas and directions soon change and as in this case not for the better.
"With next year's closure of Filton airfield, one incredible heritage building stands at risk of being ripped down and lost forever, the Brabazon Hangar.
"So why not use this building as the centre of the history of Bristol's aviation and space industry, and in memory of the man who started it all, Sir George White.
"It's large enough to form one of the most incredible museums in the world; it would be able to house the whole BAC collection with Concorde 216 at the centre, where she was built. This idea needs to be looked into and not dismissed so easily by the people leading the effort for the new museum."
But the Evening Post has learnt that the Concorde Trust, a registered charity which was set up to create a museum for the plane, has all but ruled out the gigantic hangar – which housed the production line for the first Concorde built at Filton – because of its sheer size.
The maintenance costs would be overwhelming, let alone the heating costs for the huge structure.
The hangar can also only be reached by driving through the Airbus factory which means that any visitors would have to be bussed from an off-site car park.
Oliver Dearden, chairman of the Bristol Aero Collection, said: "It's an iconic building but it's extremely big – you could easily get six Concordes in there, let alone one.
"The size alone creates problems with running and maintenance costs but the other big problem is that there is no public access.
"Visitors would have to be taken by coach from an off-site car park which would not be a very suitable arrangement in the long term.
"I don't think any idea should ever be ruled out completely but I think it would be more prudent to pursue the other options."
The trust won planning permission for a site near the end of the runway, close to the back of the Vue Cinema at Cribbs Causeway but a £2.9 million funding bid to the Heritage Lottery Fund was turned down. Since then, it has emerged that the airfield's owners, BAe Systems, wants to close it down at the end of next year which raises questions about its future.
The 350-acre site would provide enough room to build between 3,000-3,500 new homes, making an estimated net profit for the company of about £120 million.
But South Gloucestershire Council, the local planning authority, has made clear one of the conditions if the airfield was redeveloped, would be to "secure the Concorde museum and the long-term legacy of aviation at Filton".
The council has now closed its consultation exercise over the future of the airfield and council officials are currently drawing up a report to put before councillors.
The Brabazon Hangar, which is currently not in use, is being marketed for sale or rent by BAE Systems.
A spokeswoman for the company said: "The hangar has been most recently used for the maintenance and painting of aircraft.
"It's now available for sale or let and we are in discussions with a number of interested parties."
The hangar covers a total area of 405,000 sq.ft but the actual hangar space is 250,000 sq. ft.
The shopping area at Sainsbury's supermarket off Winterstoke Road covers 50,000 sq ft while Asda Walmart is nearly 100,000 sq. ft.[/textarea]
http://www.thisisbristol.co.uk/Hangar-j ... story.html
I am amazed at the suggestion that this iconic building could be demolished. In the immediate post-WW2 decades Bristol's council acted like an urban vandal and allowed numerous buildings to be pulled down and lost forever, many of which would be saved in today's more enlightened environment.
It's beyond belief that the Brabazon Hangar is not a listed building if, as the report suggests, that is the case.
Filton, though within the Bristol urban sprawl, is outside the municipal boundary and in the area of the South Gloucestershire Unitary Authority.
That authority has done some daft things in the past too but it's good to know they've imposed a condition on any airfield redevelopment that secures a Concorde museum and the long-term legacy of aviation at Filton.