Historical Information

HISTORICAL INFORMATION

The building was built for the 1935 California Pacific International Exposition by the Ford Motor Company at a cost of $623,037 ($6.23 per square foot). The entire 100,000 square foot building was occupied by Ford's exhibits during the Exposition, which ran from May 29 to November 11, 1935.

At the close of the Exposition, the building was converted to serve as the Palace of Transportation for the 1936 Fair, which opened in the March of that year. The renovation included the painting of over 10,000 square feet of murals on interior plaster walls. The largest of these, the "March of Transportation" mural, is 20 feet high and over 450 feet in length, depicting all manner of man's ideas and methods of transportation both real and fanciful. The mural concludes with a look at what the future was to look like (through the eyes of 1936).

The 1936 Fair closed in September of that year and since that time, the building, or portions of it, has been used variously by the National Guard, the American Red Cross, as a vocational school for aircraft industry employees during World War II, and in recent years as storage by the City's Park and Recreation Department.

In 1973, the "Ford Building" was placed on the National Register of Historical Places as an exceptional example of th "Moderne" style of architecture, and the City Council, in 1977 designated the building for use as the Aerospace Historical Center to house the San Diego Aerospace Museum and its International Aerospace Hall of Fame. A federal grant for complete renovation of the building was received bye the City in September 1977 and construction was begun in December, 1977. The project was completed at a cost of $3,088,000. It was fortuitous that the construction began when it did, as a tragic arson fire completely destroyed the collection at another site.

VITAL STATISTICS and CHRONOLOGY

Main Floor....................................51,631 sq. ft.
     Courtyard................................21,290 sq. ft.
     Museum Store (Rotunda)......................900 sq. ft.
     Theater.....................................150 seats
     Forum (Gallery).............................900 sq. ft.
     Museum Exhibit Area......................45,500 sq. ft.
     Hall of Fame Exhibit Area.................5,400 sq. ft.
     Public Restrooms..........................5,400 sq. ft.

Mezzanine Area
     Library and Archives......................1,600 sq. ft.
     Administrative Office.......................970 sq. ft.
     Education Office............................500 sq. ft.
     Reuben H. Fleet Conference Room.............832 sq. ft.
     Restrooms M/W

Basement Floor
       Shop, Restoration, Photo Lab & Storage....21,964 sq. ft.

Close Outside Parking...............................527 cars

The first official action taken by the San Diego Aerospace Museum to acquire the Ford Building for its use occurred at 10:00 a.m., Thursday, October 28, 1965 when Mayor Frank Curran's Senior Advisory Committee for the San Diego Aerospace Museum appeared before City Council requesting use of that edifice. That committee was composed of Anderson Borthwick, Joseph E. Jessop and T. Claude Ryan, who spoke for the group.

Every year since that date, actions were taken, studies made, architectural advice gathered, counsel sought, committees arranged, meetings attended -- all in pursuit of a safe and adequate exhibit building for our multi-million dollar collection. The San Diego Aerospace Museum officially opened at this site on June 28, 1980. Finally, some 30 years later, we have more than just arrived. We continue to grow and expand, presenting our nation a rich aviation heritage.

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