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A piece of history

Original post made on Jul 20, 2012

The last piece of Hangar One's exterior came off Thursday, wrapping up an environmental cleanup that took just over a year.

Read the full story here Web Link posted Thursday, July 19, 2012, 7:51 PM

Comments (15)

Posted by Mr Advice
a resident of Castro City
on Jul 20, 2012 at 7:37 am

Such an Icon of the history of Mtn View, needs to be saved at any cost.


Posted by Bill Hough
a resident of another community
on Jul 20, 2012 at 7:57 am

Mr. Advice: "Such an Icon of the history of Mtn View, needs to be saved at any cost."

I completely agree. It's absolutely disgraceful that the government continues to ignore the wishes of the community, transmitted by the Bay Area congressional delegation on saving Hangar One. It's been almost 8 months since the representatives sent a joint letter to NASA administrator Bolden stating that "full consideration of the benefits of leveraging public money with private investment should be examined."

Bolden's boss should tell him in no uncertain terms to accept the H211 proposal to re-skin Hangar One.


Posted by gcoladon
a resident of North Whisman
on Jul 20, 2012 at 2:18 pm

gcoladon is a registered user.

I have come to learn that when people say "at any cost", they are usually not referring to using their own money.


Posted by Gordon
a resident of Gemello
on Jul 20, 2012 at 2:21 pm

Good riddance. I'd call it an eyesore rather than an icon. If the gov't was trying to create this anew, the community would be up in arms to to avoid the "enormous blight". But just because this thing has been here 80 years and folks are used to it, they fight to keep it.

Maybe if there was some compelling public use for this enormous hangar, it might be worth spending the tens of millions of dollars to reskin it. But turn it into a private trophy hangars for Google execs? No thanks.


Posted by Honor Spitz
a resident of another community
on Jul 20, 2012 at 2:45 pm

Hanger One at Moffett Field is a significant piece of history. Whether or not is meets the criteria of "beautiful" is 1. subjective and 2. and most important, beside the point. The wonderful museum at Moffett Field (or a peek on line) as well as a visit to the Mtn. View History Center on the 2nd floor or the Library will tell a most interesting story, one not repeated anywhere else in the country!! We need to wake up and do whatever possible to preserve, respect and honor our past.


Posted by Doug Pearson
a resident of Blossom Valley
on Jul 20, 2012 at 9:28 pm

The article says, "The frame was cleaned with pressurized water and coated with a silver paint said to have lasted decades on other structures." And, NASA "has expressed interest in offloading the structure and the entire Moffett Federal Airfield in a process that could take years."

I hope the silver paint does last decades--it looks like it will have to. I must say I'm pretty disgusted at the NASA Administrator's decision to give away the hanger and runways. If they go to the FAA, as has been suggested, I think it likely that the field will be considered for use as a general aviation and/or cargo facility.


Posted by gcoladon
a resident of North Whisman
on Jul 21, 2012 at 9:33 pm

gcoladon is a registered user.

Doug, what would you think of trading PAO for NUQ?


Posted by Otto Maddox
a resident of Monta Loma
on Jul 23, 2012 at 2:15 pm

"at any cost?"

You can't even take a comment like that seriously.

I'm glad we're one step closer to seeing Hangar One finally demolished. Just because we've been looking at something for 60 years doesn't mean we can't live without it.

Bye bye Hangar One.


Posted by kman
a resident of Monta Loma
on Jul 23, 2012 at 4:42 pm

Only thing this reminds me of, is the airplanes that use to fly out of there no stop. One every 20 or so minutes, you can here one of those p-somethings fly over. Thank God that has stopped. So long, far well and asta lavista. Time to put up more apartments.


Posted by rem
a resident of another community
on Jul 24, 2012 at 2:15 pm

rem is a registered user.

Editorial from the San Jose Mercury News, May 25th 2012

President Obama --save Moffett Field

Welcome to Silicon Valley, Mr. President. Hey, look at the great Moffett Field landing strip that Air Force One just glided onto -- isn't Hangar One spectacular, even with its skeleton exposed like some giant extraterrestrial metal sculpture? And check out the runway -- 9,200 feet, long enough for just about anything that flies. Can you imagine building one like it today anywhere in America, let alone in the Bay Area?

Oh, wait. Moffett Field. Ahem. Your federal government, under your watch, is threatening to destroy it. Really.

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration doesn't want it and plans to hand it over to the General Services Administration -- an agency that throws great parties in Vegas but has bizarre methods of disposing of property. And we do mean disposing.

So we have a simple request: Stop it. Just stop it.

The "excess property" stunner from NASA came just as U.S. Rep. Anna Eshoo was working with Google on a deal to -- get this -- pay the estimated $15 million cost of re-cladding historic Hangar One in exchange for being able to rent space in it. What a gift -- the ideal public private partnership. But even more important, people here rely on Moffett as their emergency lifeline, as Air National Guard as the 129th Rescue Wing has saved a LOTS of people.

(You may have heard, we have earthquakes.)

And then there are the cities of Sunnyvale and Mountain View, with a direct interest in this huge property on their borders. They thought a plan was in place to utilize the field while protecting their interests. We all did.

Well, good luck with your fundraising and photo ops in the valley. Enjoy the weather. But leave us something in return.

****Save Hanger one*****


Posted by Mt. View Resident
a resident of Whisman Station
on Jul 25, 2012 at 8:53 pm

The hanger needs to go. As soon as possible.


Posted by Just an idea
a resident of Cuesta Park
on Jul 26, 2012 at 3:18 pm

What about keeping the land as an airport/runway and restoring the vintage hanger to be a functional airport terminal? Perhaps it could pay for itself that way.


Posted by rem
a resident of another community
on Jul 26, 2012 at 4:38 pm

rem is a registered user.

Hey - "Mt. View Resident, a resident of the Whisman Station neighborhood"

You go. It is history - you aren't!!!!!!!


Posted by Todd L.
a resident of Whisman Station
on Jul 28, 2012 at 8:40 am

I grew up near the intersection of Whisman and Middlefield. I saw that hangar every day growing up. Though I've moved away to another state for employment, whenever I come back to visit, when I see Hangar One ... I know I'm home. I'm glad to see that at least for the time being, the structure continues to stand.


Posted by erics
a resident of Another Mountain View Neighborhood
on Oct 17, 2016 at 9:04 pm

It looks like a giant cage


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