I volunteered at the Pearson Air Museum in the old hangar in the late 1980s. It’s a slap in the face to all those people who worked so hard to build the museum to have the National Park Service take it over.
According to the May 26 Political Beat “Congresswoman, mayor clash over Pearson,” Mayor Tim Leavitt has been rather cavalier about the takeover of the museum by the Park Service. It may not be the most important issue on his agenda, but it is more than “nonsense” over a local conflict between two agencies. The museum building may belong to the Park Service, but the museum never has. The museum was built by and belongs to the community.
Congresswoman Jaime Herrera Beutler, R-Camas, attempted to give the museum building back to the community. Leavitt could have declined the offer graciously without accusing her of trying to “back (the city) into a corner.” She was doing the community a favor and making it possible to reinstate the museum in the building that was built for it. The city dropped the ball.
The museum, the real aviation museum, exists today at Pearson Field Education Center at 201 East Reserve Street. That is where the spirit of the original museum is. The center is open to the public every Saturday from 1 to 5 p.m.
