It was a rite of passage for many World War II B-29 pilots. Before heading out to fight, they trained at one of the Army Air Corps bases dotting Kansas and Nebraska. Towns that surround the bases –towns like Great Bend and Pratt – thrived as the bases grew. But now, 60 years later, with veterans of the war passing on and corn belt towns like Pratt and Great Bend consumed with other issues, the hangers that housed these planes are slowly fading absent.
But a group World War II buffs is fighting to save them. Armed with not much more than respect for history, they’re struggling against weather, disrepair, and a general lack of interest to keep the structures open, arguing that the hangers are an crucial monument to American history.
They’ve got their work cut out for them.
At the Pratt Industrial Airport,
one of two war-era hangers is being used by private businesses but the other
is scheduled for demolition. In Great Bend, one
after being damaged by a tornado.
The preservationists play up the historical importance of maintaining these buildings for future generations, but they plus argue that keeping them open would boost tourism by capitalizing on increased interest in military history. But they’re up against towns who can’t rent out the structures and see them as financial liabilities. Great Bend’s city manager has implied that razing the town’s tornado-damaged structure probably makes more sense than spending $1.5
million to preserve it.
The historians plan to keep fighting. “It’s
just so urgent to the whole area,” says Milt Martin, a WW II buff from Pratt. The bases “changed these communities forever. I can’t believe
that there isn’t a more concerted effort to save them.”
Photo from PrattTown
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