Langley facility that has seen history feels winds of change
(The Virginian-Pilot, Dec. 27, 2008)
HAMPTON-Within these sky-high walls, some of history's most storied flying machines were readied for the air - biplanes of wood, wire and canvas, Machine Age bombers and Mercury spacecraft, and just about every American fighter in World War II
It was, in fact, the biggest wind tunnel on Earth, and it remains among the center's most visible structures: 434 feet long and 10 stories tall, the Full-Scale Tunnel looms a spectral gray-white over its neighbors on the Back River shore, its every cubic inch devoted to producing a clean, constant column of air and to measuring the effects of that blast on whatever is placed in its path
And now, 77 years after it opened, NASA wants to tear it down.
Citing its obsolescence and declining condition, the agency plans to demolish the tunnel starting in late August - just after the expiration of a lease to Old Dominion University, which has used the building as an aerospace laboratory since 1997.
The ODU professor who manages the facility says he'd welcome a chance to extend the lease. It isn't likely to happen, Allen said: "Unfortunately, a number of these engineering marvels from 80 years ago have to fall by the wayside. Structurally, the facility is falling apart. It's an eyesore."
http://hamptonroads.com/2008/12/langley-facility-has-seen-history-feels-winds-change