Council will hear plans for museum
By Ty Johnson
Published in News on November 19, 2012 1:46 PM
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News-Argus/TY JOHNSON
Concept boards for Goldsboro's proposed Air Force Museum have been on display for a week at Berkeley Mall and in the City Hall Annex. The Verner Johnson consultant team that developed the boards will be in town today to discuss the project and will host a public forum Tuesday at 10 a.m. in the City Hall Annex.
Vendors at Berkeley Mall said they have seen lackluster interest in Goldsboro's Air Power Museum concept boards, but those who stop to study the plans are generally pleased with the project, which seeks to repurpose an old bank building into a cultural arts destination.
Workers near the boards, which are set up in the mall's central atrium facing the JCPenney wing, said they have seen between three and 10 people visiting the boards daily, and the handful who stopped in front of the boards Friday were very receptive to the prospect of a museum to honor the city's connection to Seymour Johnson Air Force Base.
Colin Delorme was among those. He and his wife, Adeline, are expecting a daughter soon and both said the prospect of having a museum to take her to when she gets older would be a great way to entertain her without straying far from Pikeville.
"For me, I love museums and history," Delorme said. "It's good to always be learning something new."
"I would definitely go to this to see these exhibits," he said.
And while he said the annual operating costs, which exceed yearly revenue projections by more than $300,000, do concern him, he thinks the long-term benefits would outweigh those costs if it attracted enough people to the city.
"It would be worthwhile in the long run," he said.
Scott Cody said he was impressed with the renderings, which show exhibit space dedicated to the aerodynamics of flight that make lift possible.
Shaquille Miller also highlighted those concepts, noting that it's important to learn about how airplanes are made and the nation's history through air defense.
He said he hasn't visited a museum in almost a decade, but would definitely make the trip to this museum if it opened up in his hometown.
"This is something I would definitely go to," he said.
The final meeting between the Air Force Museum Citizen Committee and the Verner Johnson consultant team is today at 3 p.m. in Historic City Hall. The consultants will address the Goldsboro City Council during the 5 p.m. work session and again during the 7 p.m. regular meeting.
The consultants will wrap up their final visit to Goldsboro with a Tuesday public forum in the City Hall Annex at 10 a.m.
All of the Air Force Museum meetings today and Tuesday are open to the public.