How a massive hangar rescued the Smithsonian's largest treasures from obscurity
In short: For years, many of the Smithsonian's most iconic artifacts sat hidden away because they were simply too massive for the National Mall. Now, thanks to a transformative donation, these giants of flight and space exploration have a home where they can finally be seen.
The Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center serves as a vital annex to the National Air and Space Museum. Located near Dulles International Airport in Chantillary, Virginia, the 760,000-square-foot facility was created to house artifacts that were physically too large for the museum's primary location on the National Mall. Before this center opened in 2003, much of the collection was kept out of public view at a conservation facility in Silver Hill, Maryland.
The project was made possible by a $65 million gift in October 1999 from Steven F. Udvar-Házy, a Hungarian immigrant and co-founder of the International Lease Finance Corporation. The facility's design, handled by Hellmuth, Obata, and Kassabaum, required 15 years of preparation. Today, the center is a massive hub for aviation history, featuring the Boeing Aviation Hangar and the James S. McDonnell Space Hangar.
The museum's connection to Dulles International Airport is uniquely functional; a private taxiway allows certain aircraft to be flown directly to the facility, bypassing the need for disassembly. This logistical advantage, combined with the museum's expansion efforts—including a 2025 approval for a 20% space increase due by 2028—ensures that even the largest icons, such as the Space Shuttle Discovery and the Concorde, can be preserved and displayed for the 1.2 million annual visitors.
Beyond mere storage, the center has evolved into a comprehensive research and conservation hub. Following an Airbus-funded expansion in 2010, the museum's restoration facilities were moved to the site, complete with observation windows that allow the public to witness the specialized preservation of these historical treasures.
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