Bringing the story of flight to life
As president of the Houston Aeronautical Heritage Society, The Woodlands resident Drew Coats has been a force in turning the old terminal at Hobby Airport into an aviation museum. (Kim Christensen photo)
Saying it can't be done has been the catalyst that has made aviation enthusiast Drew Coats try just that much harder.
Ten years ago, the aviation lawyer and resident of The Woodlands was doing research on the Houston Municipal Airport Terminal at Hobby Airport, a dormant building that once served as the city's major aviation hub from 1940-1954.
The prospect of bringing the historic building again alive through renovation from the vintage years of Howard Hughes, Glen McCarthy and the oil boom spoke to him.
It was built after the birth of aviation, in an era when cities poured money into aviation terminals to attract travelers, most of whom were the rich and famous.
"The more I learned about it, the more excited I got," Coats said.
The art-deco building at 8325 Travelair Road on the west side of the airport borders a major runway, proving to be a plane spotter's paradise. Besides housing aviation relics, renovation plans include a restaurant. Eventually hangars built nearby will feature vintage planes and larger museum pieces. A tree-line entryway from Telephone Road will signal the museum's location.
To date, the biggest hurdle to the project's completion has been fund-raising for the $10 million needed to fund the renovations, Coats said. About $1.3 million has been raised so far.
As the monument to the Golden Age of Flight is revived, it will receive incremental transformations, with funding injections. The first phase of the resurrection of the 14,740-square-foot building renamed the "1940 Air Terminal Museum" is being celebrated on Dec. 17 during the century anniversary of the flight of the Wright Brothers.
The north wing features about 3,000 square feet and includes a mini-theater for watching films of early aviators. While renovations proceed in the atrium and upper floors, the public can glean a bird's-eye view of the construction via a glassed connection.
Coats remains assured that the entire project will become a reality. Lessons were learned along the way, he says.
"We spent about a year raising money to do it all at once," he said. "Then we decided to do it in phases, first restoring the exterior and dividing the project."
Other attempts to restore the vintage art-deco building, erected in the 1940s by famed architect Joseph Finger, have waned. However, Coats gathered together a group of aviation enthusiasts who are interested in the project and formed a nonprofit organization called the Houston Aeronautical Heritage Society.
"Probably the most single largest asset of this organization is its people," he said. "We have a great enthusiastic group."
Gordon Cragg, a Southwest Airlines pilot and the nonprofit society's director of operations, brings a tremendous amount of knowledge about vintage aircraft to the organization, Coats said.
David Cox, the group's vice president, is a career naval aviator and a longtime Houston Airport System employee. As the former assistant manager of Hobby Airport, Cox had succeeded in urging the city to preserve the outside of the building and complete some of the inside asbestos abatement in 1987.
"I fell in love with the building the first time I saw it," Cox said.
What the museum brings to the public at large is the thrill and romance of aviation, plus the educational component, Coats said. Most importantly, children will be major benefactors of the information
"Aviation has a captivating effect on young people," he said. "Aviation is a catalyst to excite and inspire kids to learn. Across curriculum, aviation can be applied to math, science, history, literature and even art."
The museum also offers a boast for tourism. With very few aviation stations left from the Golden Age, the museum has a national and even international effect. And to the Hobby area, the possibilities are also uplifting.
From the moment Coats learned of the hidden aviation treasure as he began researching to write an article about it 10 years ago, he has pondered the possibilities.
"I have a lifelong love and passion for aviation," Coats said. "It has always been a part of who I am."
Coats owns a Cessna, single-engine, four-seater that he flies out of Hooks Airport in northwest Houston. His wife Kirsten is involved in the museum as the creator of the nonprofit organization's Web site. She is also planning the upcoming 3rd annual Pops & Props Gala & Silent Auction, a fund-raising event slated for Jan. 17.
Fellow board member Cox says that it would take a man like Coats to bring the museum to life.
"By profession, he's a lawyer, but he doesn't fit the prototype," Cox said. "He's very personable, dedicated, honest and straightforward. Drew is the kind of guy needed to dream this, and that's what he does."
For information about the 1940 Air Terminal Museum or the Houston Aeronautical Heritage Society, access www.1940airterminal.org.