On Monday night, the Warwick City Council is expected to consider a resolution in support of preserving the Quonset Air Museum, which faces imminent closure on Sept. 30 if it can’t raise the funds needed to repair its current facility. Warwick’s could be the latest council to add its voice to the 11th-hour calls for keeping the Museum open.
See the Quonset Air Museum collection, including the chopper above, a Blue Angel, and an F-14 ‘Top Gun’ Tomcat.
Approving a resolution is all well and good, but in truth, the Warwick council should resolve to take action and legitimately preserve the QAM.
According to recent news reports, the Rhode Island Airport Corp. — the same agency that oversees T.F. Green — is adamant that the existing building is unsafe, and that the Museum can’t stay.
Setting aside the speculation that RIAC may have bigger and better plans for the prime real estate where QAM is now, the real question is what will happen to the valuable collection of vintage aircraft that represent decades of American air power.
According to QAM staffers, the planes may have to be dismantled and sold for scrap in the worst case. In the best case, they will be moved to other locations, breaking up the unique collection that has been assembled on the same ground as a former Essex-class aircraft carrier base, Air Wing Eighteen, and most recently the 143d Airlift Wing.
Given this situation, the Warwick City Council may have a perfect opportunity to ensure a future life for QAM and provide the city with yet another destination for visitors by hosting the museum.
The rationale for this idea is simple: The home of Rhode Island’s air transport system, by virtue of T.F. Green’s location, should also serve as the home of its heritage.
What better way to knit together the state’s history and recent growth [including the extension of a Green runway to accept international flights] than showcasing some of the predecessors to today’s continent-spanning aircraft?
And while there may be practical impediments to certain ideas — like moving the QAM collection to the original T.F. Green terminal on Airport Road, say, or building a new home for it near the Interlink at City Centre — this should not be a reason to let QAM fold.
It’s also worth hoping that this kind of support from the council will suggest a kinder and wiser course for RIAC officials to take than simply shuttering the Museum.
In the spirit of the men and women who flew those planes, many of them still bearing the scars of battles past, Warwick’s elected officials and RIAC should do what they can to save these important pieces of Rhode Island’s history.
Author: Joe Hutnak - [email protected]
Co-Founder and Editor-at-Large of Warwick Post. For Warwick Post-related inquiries or communications, email [email protected]
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