NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration

June 17, 2010

NASA issued the following statement on the progress of possible Hangar One reuses at the former Naval Air Station, Moffett Field:

NASA remains committed to the preservation and reuse of Hangar One and continues to pursue various reuse options. This spring, Ames discussed several Hangar One reuse concepts, ranging from airships to multi-purpose uses, with Congresswoman Anna Eshoo at her request. For more than 70 years, Hangar One has been a meaningful landmark in the San Francisco Bay Area. NASA Ames is responsible for Hangar One reuse and the Navy is responsible for environmental remediation, as described in the Navy's December 2008 Action Memorandum, and has agreed to work in collaboration with NASA on this effort.

NASA will continue to keep everyone informed as the reuse process continues.

If you have any comments, feel free to share them by visiting: http://www.nasa.gov/centers/ames/about/contact_us.html

Deborah Feng
Director of Center Operations
NASA Ames Research Center

Image of Hangar One at Moffett Field, Calif., taken in 1999. Photo Credit: NASA Ames Research Center

Click image to enlarge
 

Moffett Field’s Hangar One is a recognizable landmark in the San Francisco Bay area and a part of its early aviation history. The Navy built Hangar One at Moffett Field in 1932 for the USS Macon and to serve as the West Coast base for the U.S. lighter-than-air aviation program. The Navy transferred the hangar to NASA in 1994 after Moffett Field was decommissioned.

In 1997, during routine testing, NASA Ames discovered an unusual toxin called a polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB), specifically Aroclor 1268, in the Center's storm drain settling basin. Subsequent sampling programs determined in 2002 that the Galbestos used in 1932 to make the external siding of Hangar One, was the source of Aroclor 1268. As a result of the high levels of PCBs present in the Hangar One building components, Hangar One was closed to human use as required by the Toxic Substance Control Act (TSCA).

Read More

Moffett Field’s Hangar One is a one-of-a kind historic treasure and NASA is committed to its preservation.

Now 75 years old, this iconic landmark is showing its age. As a result of a 2003 inspection revealing PCBs and other contaminants are leaking from its metallic exterior, the facility has been closed for the past five years. This year, the Navy announced plans to remove all the contaminated siding material from Hangar One, seal the structural frame and leave the hangar's framework and flooring standing. However, their plans do not address the Hangar’s reskinning. At the Navy’s recent public hearing on Aug. 26, 2008, members of the community expressed overwhelming support for full restoration.

NASA Ames Research Center assumed control of Moffett Field in the early 1990s. We agree it is in NASA's and the community’s interests to maintain the profile of Hangar One as a meaningful landmark in the South Bay.

Read More

Leave your comments about Hangar One.