posted 08-11-2008 02:54 PM               

Artist rendition of the Atlas at Balboa Park. (Credit: SDASM)

The San Diego Air & Space Museum wants to bring a nearly 100-foot Atlas rocket to Balboa Park and install it near the museum's parking area.

A private group of Atlas aficionados is raising $150,000 to move the 48-year-old craft from its current spot at Gillespie Field in El Cajon, where it serves as a landmark for drivers along state Route 67.

The Atlas has a legion of fans, including about 1,000 former missile program workers and friends who gathered last summer to celebrate its 50th anniversary.

But the reception for the rocket might not be so festive at Balboa Park, a nationally registered landmark with strict rules about its historic Spanish Colonial look. Changing more than a blade of grass is usually a challenge.

The Atlas proposal must go before San Diego's Balboa Park Committee and would require approval from the Historical Resources Board, the Park and Recreation Department and the City Council because the installation would require a change in the park's land-use plan.

County Supervisor Ron Roberts has committed $80,000 from his allotment of community grants to the project if it passes all the hurdles.

Organizers want to add a model of a Mercury space capsule on top as an homage to the late Wally Schirra, one of the original Mercury astronauts. Schirra, a San Diego resident for many years, died in May 2007.

They have raised $40,000 in private donations, well over the $24,000 threshold Roberts set before public funding could kick in.

"My main concern is that we make sure the public knows about the proposal and that they have an opportunity to participate," Granowitz said. "With a project that will have this kind of prominence in a historical district, we just need to proceed carefully."

posted 08-11-2008 07:50 PM            

Also, they have a *horrible* website that needs more info less PDF downloads. All I was able to find was a form to print and send with money.

posted 08-11-2008 10:01 PM               

quote:

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Originally posted by tim846:
Honestly, this seems like someone's pet project.

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While an inside display would certainly be preferable from a preservation perspective, moving the rocket closer to SDASM's modern restoration workshop would seem to make more sense than the status quo.

Visibility seems to be a no brainer: Balboa Park would afford a larger audience.

posted 08-12-2008 03:07 PM               

As many of you are aware, there is an initiative to move our Atlas rocket from outside display at Gillespie Field in El Cajon, to the heart of Balboa Park in San Diego. What a fitting tribute to the effort put forth by the many engineers and technicians who lived right here in the southwest region of our nation. The Atlas, which put the first American into orbit during the Mercury space program, is indeed a symbol of the greatness achieved by those who contributed so much to our nation. They accomplished beyond expectations, in such a short window of time and under challenging circumstances, which required an innovative spirit, new technologies and just 'plain old' risk taking. They made it happen! Ultimately, positioning an Atlas in Balboa Park, in the vicinity of the Air & Space Museum acknowledges the significance of their efforts and how much each person in the many aerospace companies contributed to our winning of the Space Race. We know you agree.

We encourage each of you to contact your local, regional, state and national representatives in support of repositioning the Atlas to Balboa Park. Specifically, San Diego's Mayor, our city council members and county supervisors should especially be at the top of your list. They can make it happen. Your letters to your representatives and the San Diego Union Tribune newspaper will ensure a favorable outcome. It's worth our time to do so.

posted 08-12-2008 05:59 PM            

The San Diego Air & Space Museum is a gem of a museum and I think the location of the rocket there could only be win-win-win. The rocket wins because it will be lovingly maintained by a world class museum.

The museum wins because the rocket will both provide visibility and, I am sure, be built into many of the educational endeavors at there.

Finally, the park wins — in a big way. Balboa Park is lovely, but as a California resident who frequently visits, I can honestly say even it needs a little updating now and then. The museum is in a section of the park dedicated to more modern pursuits, including not only the museum but also a sports museum and an automotive museum.

The rocket would serve as a focal point for that more modern section of the park... and as it is not easy to find one's way around the park, it would help visitors to orient themselves, too.

posted 08-21-2008 11:44 PM               

I can still vividly recall seeing the front windows of my mom's house buckling from the sonic booms that chronically plagued us up on Mt. Soledad, while growing up as a small pup in the 1960s. (In retrospect I wonder how many of those hot shot naval aviators ended up in outer space!)

There is a great aerospace legacy in San Diego. The B-24 Liberator, The Spirit of St Louis, Top Gun and the Atlas rocket to name a few. It would be nice to promote San Diego's if not all of Southern California's legacy for that matter in a more explicit manner.