Google to take over operation of Moffett Federal Airfield (Calif.)
Source: Mountain View Voice
Preservationists can rejoice -- Hangar One's restoration appears imminent. Google has won a lease deal for the massive hangar and operation of Moffett Field's runways.
NASA and the General Services Administration announced today, Feb. 10, that Google's Planetary Ventures, LLC has been selected for a long-term lease of Hangar One and the Moffett Airfield. The subsidiary of Google has already partnered with NASA in the past, and is now set to build a 1.1 million-square-foot campus on a another portion of Moffett soon.
... "With GSA and NASA's announcement today, Hangar One has been saved and will be restored and rehabilitated, honoring its place in South Bay history and community identity," said Congresswoman Anna Eshoo in a statement. "Moffett Federal Airfield has and will continue to play a critical role as home to the 129th Rescue Wing" -- the arm of the National Guard that conducts regular rescue missions in and around California and in war zones.
... Lenny Siegel, a Save Hangar One Committee leader and board member for a group aiming to build an air and space museum in Hangar One ... said concerns remain that the airfield could be opened up to new air traffic from private business jets, though a GSA press release refers to "maintaining the status quo" in regards to airfield use. Google executives now lease Moffett's Hangar 211 for a fleet of private aircraft, but their lease expires this summer. It is unclear whether the fleet would remain at Moffett.
Read more: http://www.mv-voice.com/news/2014/02/10/google-wins-hangar-one-lease