Second Air Force museum meeting more positive, officials say
By Ty Johnson
Published in News on June 7, 2012 1:46 PM
The second community forum Wednesday morning concerning the city's proposed Air Force Museum showed a marked contrast from the one held the previous night, as Travel and Tourism Director Betsy Rosemann characterized the attitude of the 35 gathered at the Goldsboro branch of the Wayne County Public Library as excited.
Mrs. Rosemann said the Verner Johnson team also met with a handful of local Air Force brass during their stay in Goldsboro in advance of the forum where attendees were given the opportunity to share their thoughts with the consultant firm hired for the museum planning.
She said the discussions centered mainly on exhibits, which led to new ideas that had not yet been thought of, and the name of the proposed museum or learning center.
"The response was very positive," she said. "They had lots of questions, which is good."
Assistant City Manager Tasha Logan said by email that the crowd was a good mix of people with several new faces, which was encouraging. Although she said comments were mostly positive, there were questions about cost and sustainability.
Those concerns, she said, would be factored into the development of the museum's financial plans.
Mrs. Rosemann said the consultant firm will take all of the suggestions into consideration in combination with the results of the online survey, which is scheduled to debut later this month.
"I feel like the suggestions from the community will pretty much decide what to include in the museum," she said.
As far as inclusion of the other wings in addition to the 4th Fighter Wing, she said there was some discussion concerning that as well as a suggestion that the Military Affairs Commission be included in the museum as well.
Mrs. Rosemann said among the crowd gathered were representatives from the 916th Air Refueling Wing and Seymour Johnson's public affairs department, which was recording the meeting.
She insisted the floor plans, conceptual ideas and name options were not set in stone and were just suggestions.