Concord - At the upcoming special Town Meeting, Article 8 requests adding 711 Virginia Road, also known as Hangar 24, to the list of 58 properties already protected by the Demolition Delay Bylaw. The commission hopes the community will understand the value of preserving this unusual structure. There is a currently active plan to create an Aerospace Technology Museum on this site. It is our strong hope that as a town, we can provide a window to allow this plan to be developed.
Time is of the essence as Massport has recently asked the town and the Massachusetts Historical Commission to sign an agreement allowing them to demolish Hangar 24. When Town Meeting voted in 1999 to add the demolition delay to our bylaws, it was precisely to give interested parties extra time to respond to exactly this kind of situation.
The Historical Commission believes this structure is locally, regionally, nationally and internationally significant in its historic role, and association with an historic person. We feel the structure itself is locally significant for its unique style and the modifications that were made to it. The scientific innovations tested and refined at Hangar 24 have contributed to our national defense, spawned billion dollar industries, and employed local residents. Hangar 24 is on the State Register of Historic Places and is eligible for inclusion on the National Register, too.
Hangar 24 was erected in 1948, and has been called both the Charles Stark Draper Laboratory and the MIT Instrumentation Laboratory; it has also been used by Lincoln Labs. Perhaps the most famous achievement made at Hangar 24 was the development of inertial navigation. For this work to be done, the hangar was extensively modified: wells were “bored to the depth of local bedrock” and concrete pilings were constructed to keep vibrations at an absolute minimum. The pilings were left in place by those who worked there because they were considered historically significant. Demolition of the hangar would destroy the historic setting in which these accomplishments were made.
Hangar 24 is closely associated with Charles “Doc” Stark Draper. A pioneering member of the first generation of aeronautical engineers, this “father of inertial navigation” led the effort that brought inertial guidance to operational use in aircraft, ships, submarines and space vehicles. These technologies were tested and refined in Hangar 24. Draper received scores of honors and awards from all over the world, including the National Medal of Science, and the Langley Medal from the Smithsonian. The pre-eminent Draper prize is awarded by the National Academy of Engineering for engineering accomplishments that significantly improve the welfare and freedom of humanity.
Draper was in the forefront of the technological revolution. The development of his computing sight, the Mark 14, during World War II led to the American victory over the Japanese kamikaze. In 1953, Draper and several MIT associates made history by taking the first coast-to-coast flight guided entirely by an inertial guidance system.
During the 1960s, the Instrumentation Laboratory, under Draper’s supervision, designed instrumentation systems for the Apollo missions to the moon. Into the 70s, Draper led the development of guidance systems for the Polaris, Titan and Trident missiles, Skylab, and the space shuttle among others.
At the same time, Lincoln Labs developed technologies at Hanscom that revolutionized civilian air traffic control. The most important is the Traffic Alert Collision Avoidance System, enabling aircraft to avoid midair collisions. Nearly 2,000 planned near-miss encounters were flown from Hangar 24 in support of this critical mission. This technology is now required worldwide on all commercial aircraft.
In 1986, MIT and Anheuser-Busch used Hangar 24 for the construction of a human-powered aircraft, the Daedalus, which flew 69 miles from the Isle of Crete to the Greek mainland, recreating the mythical flight of Daedalus and Icarus; a version of this plane is on display in the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum.
Massport’s interest in demolishing Hangar 24 prompted a renewed focus on its past. The idea to create an Aerospace Technology Museum on this site has gathered tremendous momentum, and a steering committee is being formed. A museum on this site will benefit Concord in many ways. The location is within walking distance of the Minute Man National Historical Park and will encourage visitors to link the American Revolution to our more recent technological revolution. Insufficient time may be the only thing that could prevent the successful creation of this museum.
The list of elected officials, organizations, institutions, and individuals who support the formation of this museum is long and impressive. There may not be another flight facility in America that has been the scene of more profoundly important developments in both military and civilian aeronautic and astronautic engineering. The Concord Historical Commission urges Town Meeting to extend demolition delay protection to this historic property.
The Concord Historical Commission is Chairman Nancy Butman, Barbara Lynn-Davis, Catherine Gates, Deborah Bier, Holly Larner and Valarie Kinkade.
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