Glendale airport hangars face demolition

Buck Wargo

GRAND CENTRAL -- Two maintenance hangars at the historic Grand Central

Airport site have no historic value and can be demolished by The Walt

Disney Co. for its campus expansion and renovation, according to an

environmental report on the project.

The same report, released Thursday, called the 71-year-old Grand Central Terminal Building important to preserve because it is the last

building that conveys the history of the Glendale airport, which had the

first paved runways west of the Rocky Mountains. Passengers bought

tickets and waited for planes in the terminal building.

The Walt Disney Co. plans to renovate the terminal, 1310 Air Way, for

a visitors center/museum that would showcase aviation history and the

history of Disney. A reservation would be needed.

The environmental report said two maintenance hangars at 1020 and 1096

Air Way could be knocked down by the Walt Disney Co. because they do not

have historical significance.

“People can come see the history of what Disney does and the

adventuresomeness and innovation on the site,” said Ed Chuchla, director

of development for Walt Disney Imagineering. “It will harken back to the

crazy aviators of the 1920s and refer to the crazy animators in 2000.”

Charles Lindberg and Amelia Earhart flew out of the airport, which

served as a training ground for P-38 pilots during World War II. The

terminal, which opened in 1929, has been boarded up since the 1994

Northridge earthquake because it is not considered safe.

The airport closed in 1959 when construction of the Grand Central

Business Center began. Walt Disney Imagineering, which develops theme

parks, has been at the site since 1961.

The Glendale Historical Society is taking a cautious approach on the

Disney terminal plans.

“We want to study the report first,” said Suzanne McKay. “We don’t

want to be premature with our comments.”

Joanne Hedge, president of the Riverside Rancho Homeowners Assn.,

didn’t wait. She said people should be allowed to walk into the museum

without a reservation.

“It seem a little strange to me,” Hedge said. “That building has such

a interesting history. It seems they are privatizing what should remain

public.”

Chuchla said Disney has no intention of depriving residents of the

history. Reservations would prevent the terminal from becoming an

attraction that generates traffic and upsets residents, he said.

“We don’t want to turn it into a glamorous destination stop,” Chuchla

said.

Glendale Councilwoman Ginger Bremberg said many privately owned

museums require reservations.

“I don’t mind,” Bremberg said. “If you are truly interested, you are

only a phone call away to get in.”

The museum is several years away from being renovated. It is not known

if a fee will be charged.