Trio seek to build air museum for Glenview Naval Air Station
Passionate about preserving U.S. Naval history, Lowell Wallace, Bill Marquardt and Bob Coffin loved watching the Douglas SBD Dauntless and the F6F-3 Hellcat fighter planes being pulled from Lake Michigan last year.
The World War II-era training planes will eventually be restored and put on display in out-of-state museums. Nearly 40 aircraft have been plucked from the lake in the last 20 years. Remarkably, none can be found in Glenview,
The men, who are board members of the Glenview Naval Air Station Museum, say of all places in the country to display a recovered plane, it makes sense to have one here.
Thousands of pilots took off from the North suburban base and made their way to Lake Michigan to practice landings on makeshift aircraft carriers in the 1940s.
Now, the trio is leading a fundraising drive to build a $2.5 million permanent museum that would feature a recovered fighter plane as its centerpiece. The 7,500- to 10,000-square-foot facility would also have a U.S. Coast Guard helicopter, hundreds of artifacts, photographs and educational displays.
"Something truly unique happened in this place," Wallace said. "So many young men passed through here on their way to fight in the Pacific. Some were here for just a few days, others longer. Many people who live here now don't have any idea of the history."
A tiny temporary museum is on-site, but the 1,000-square-foot space is inadequate to convey the historical significance, Wallace said.
At least 15,000 pilots trained at Glenview. Each needed to make about eight takeoffs and landings on the USS Wolverine or USS Sable, which floated about five miles offshore from Chicago, to qualify for carrier duty. One of those pilots was former President George H. W. Bush.
The ships were originally paddle wheel cargo and excursion boats. The top sections were removed and replaced with 600-foot landing decks.
Anywhere from 130 to 200 planes crashed and sank during training late in World War II. Recovery experts estimate there may be 30 to 40 planes resting intact on the lake's bottom. A small number of pilots died during training.
Coffin hopes the museum will reflect the character and bravery of the young pilots who trained at Glenview.
"They were a unique bunch of guys. Think of the dangers of even getting to the war," he said. "The hazards of getting hit by propellers on the deck or landing at night, I just can't get that out of my mind."
To say the base played a strategic part in the United States' victory in World War II is an understatement from Coffin's perspective.
"This is what won the war in the Pacific," he said.
The museum would be located on 3 acres just north the 1,100-acre Glen Town Center development. The mixed-use, residential and retail center opened not long after the Navy closed the air base in 1995.
Wallace said the museum will be more than a showcase for the recovered aircraft.
"This won't be a shrine to an old airplane," he said. "It will include an interactive learning center. The educational piece of this is just as important as the contents."
The men and others have named their fundraising effort Operation Eagle. They are seeking funds from corporations and individuals interested in the historic preservation. Taras Lyssenko, co-owner of A&T Recovery, the firm used to make the most recent recoveries, has pledged to donate the $250,000 cost of pulling a plane from the lake. Details on how to contribute can be found at hangarone.org.
The current museum is at 2040 Lehigh Ave., Glenview. It's open to the public on weekends and during the week by appointment.
Marquardt hopes the money can be raised soon. Time is not on their side, especially when it comes to World War II veterans getting to see a new air museum.
"The spirit of the greatest generation will be in this place," he said. "Those people are quickly disappearing now."