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Planning underway
Then-Mayor James Eason says site plans for a proposed $20 million museum are "in the final stages." The museum will be built along Rudd Lane. -
Site excavation
Archaeologists excavating at the site find remnants of an 18th century garden. At this point, the museum is referred to as the "Virginia Air and Space Center/Hampton Roads History Center." -
City borrows for VASC
The city approves issuing up to $17 million in revenue bonds to help build the Virginia Air and Space Center/Hampton Roads History Center. Those bonds are expected to be repaid by ticket sales at the museum, but the city stands behind the debt if ticket sales are slower than expected. -
Groundbreaking
Local dignitaries break ground at the Virginia Air and Space Center/Hampton Roads History Center. The center's estimated cost is $22 million.
Mayor James L. Eason calls it the "biggest project in the city's history" and the "crown jewel of our downtown revitalization."
Construction is expected to take two years.
The ceremony includes a fighter jet flyover and speech by Gov. Gerald L. Baliles. -
Carousel Park
The City Council buys the I. Cooper's warehouse on South King Street for $433,874.
The warehouse is the last piece of land the city needs to complete a waterfront park to house the restored Buckroe Beach carousel. -
Director hired
Ralph T. Johnston, 35, is chosen as the center's first director after a nationwide search.
He had most recently been the deputy director of the Museum of Flight in Seattle.
He was chosen from a field of more than 60 applicants. -
Construction delays
Center administrators acknowledge construction delays have pushed the opening date from late 1991 to early 1992. Construction costs are now estimated at $22.5 million.
"It's a very complicated building," said director Ralph Johnston, at the time. "It has a lot of unusual shapes and unusual spaces." -
Costs outpacing expectations
Mayor James L. Eason says construction costs are higher than expected, meaning some optional features may need to be cut from the project.
The city has $23 million budgeted for the project, including $15.7 million borrowed from bonds, $5 million in state funds and more than $2 million in private donations, -
Fundraising needed for construction
City officials acknowledge another $3.3 million is needed for construction costs.
Shortfall is paid for by city bonds. -
Price tag almost $28 million
Daily Press article sites $27.9 million price tag for Virginia Air and Space Center. -
"Topping out" party held
Tallest portion of the center is completed.
City officials throw a catered party to celebrate the occasion.
The building still is empty with the exception of an F4E-Phantom 2 airplane, which already has taken its place so the building could be built around it. -
Center gets $30 million price tag
The price tag for the center is now estimated at $30 million, although the increase is not explained.
The facility is expected to house the Hampton Roads History Center, and is planned to draw about 400,000 visitors a year.
The city has borrowed $18 million for the project. -
Carousel Park opens
The restored Buckroe carousel housed in a newly constructed pavilion opens to the public. The project cost $350,000. -
NASA/Langley funding
The space agency expects to provide about $300,000 in annual funding for the center's innovative aerospace math and science education programs.
It also loans the center artifacts such as the Apollo 12 command module, a model of the Viking spacecraft and a rock from the surface of the moon. -
VASC opens its doors
Center opens its doors to the public.
More than 8,000 people turned out under sunny skies Sunday to see the new center and its collection of 100-plus history and aerospace exhibits. -
Astronaut attends lecture
Astronaut Charles ``Pete'' Conrad, who has four space flights to his credit, discusses space travel and future space transportation systems during a lecture commemorating the opening of the Virginia Air and Space Center and Hampton Roads History Center.
An IMAX theater uses a 50-foot-high screen and state-of-the-art sound system to present dramatic films of flight and space exploration. -
Director leaves for personal reasons
Ralph T. Johnston announces his resignation, just 31 days after the center opens. He cites personal reasons for his departure. -
Space exploration exhibit opens
The Virginia Air and Space Center invites area residents to celebrate International Space Year, an event that commemorates man's exploration of the earth and space, by viewing a new exhibit. -
Bay Days draws record crowd
Bay Days festival draws record crowd. VASC is seen as a large contributor to that attendance. -
New director named
The Virginia Air and Space Center hires former chief of the Langley Research Center as its new executive director.
Richard H. "Pete" Petersen, -
Attendance exceeds first year expectations
About 277,000 visited the museum in its first year. That includes 56,000 students.
Average daily attendance has been about 750, with more than 1,000 visitors a day in the summer months,
A 1990 budget draft called for a budget of $1.55 million. Officials said their actual budget this year, funded entirely with museum revenues and private donations, was $1.7 million. -
City refinances bonds
The city agrees to refinances a number of bonds to take advantage of lower interest rates. That includes the center's bonds, totaling $15.7 million, which were issued in 1989 and 1990. -
Largest flying airplane
The world's largest flying paper airplane - which was created by Hampton students - is hung in the center. -
Second director resigns, attendance drops
Richard H. "Pete" Petersen resigns under pressure following a budgetary dispute with the museum's executive committee.
He left his post after refusing to accept demands for additional reductions in a budget that had been cut about 8 percent in the past six months.
After drawing nearly 280,000 people in its first year - about 20 percent higher than projected - the downtown attraction saw visitations drop about 25 percent compared to the first six months after its opening. -
VASC cuts four staff members
Four staff members cut because of declining attendance and revenue. -
Attendance still not at "break even" level
The 1993-94 fiscal year ends with just 203,000 visitors to the center. Staff says 230,000 visitors were needed for the center to break even. -
Staff rankled by demand to sign "loyalty oath"
Virginia Air and Space Center employees were asked to sign a petition in support of acting director Jeannette Petrolia. The petition included language endorsing Petrolia's candidacy for the position of executive director.
The previous director had been forced to resign in January. -
Third director named
Kim L. Maher is named the center's third director.
She had most recently been the head of the Museum of Science and Discovery in Fort Lauderdale,
Board president Edwin C. Kilgore describes Maher as an aggressive, highly capable administrator. -
Nearly $100,00 lost in 1995 fiscal year
The center reports a 12-month loss of $97,157.
Attendance rose to 213,605 visitors, an increase of more than 5 percent over the previous year, while revenues grew 9 percent to about $2.43 million. -
1996 fiscal year shows surplus, attendance increase, first profit
The center the fiscal year a $150,000 budget surplus.
The downtown center drew 249,523 visitors which is 17 percent more than the previous year.
Revenues grew 23 percent to a total of $3,159,302 for the period.
This is the first year the center has drawn a profit -
Surplus recorded for second straight year
The Virginia Air & Space Center ended its 1997 fiscal year posting its second consecutive annual budget surplus after two years of discouraging revenue shortfalls.
The museum achieved the surplus despite an estimated 9 percent dip in attendance and the absence of a big-name changing exhibit such as "Star Trek: Federation Science," the highly popular show that helped drive visitation to a record 249,523 last year. -
Center continues streak of surpluses
The center's figures for the 1998 fiscal year show a revenue increase of 16 percent compared to the previous year.
Attendance increased by 7 percent to 364,000 admissions. The center has an annual operating budget of $3.6 million. -
Special Effects IMAX movie opens
"Special Effects," the Academy Award-nominated documentary short subject, debuts on the IMAX screen. -
Surplus recorded again
The Air & Space Center ends the 1999 fiscal year with an 11 percent gain in revenue and more than 385,000 admissions. -
IMAX theater installs devices to help handicapped viewers
The Virginia Air and Space Center recently installed a new closed captioning system in its IMAX theater, making it the only big-screen theater in the state to offer such a specialized viewing format. Just five other IMAX theaters in the country extend similar services to the deaf and hearing impaired. -
Executive Director leaves for Orlando
Kim L. Maher leaves as executive director to become president of the Orlando Science Center. -
AeroZone aeronautics lab opens
AeroZone aeronautics lab opens in center. The $276,000 lab is considered one of the museum's most important additions since the center's opening. -
Nearly $500,000 in city bonds earmarked for VASC
The city issues a series of bonds, $475,000 of which are earmarked for the Virginia Air and Space Museum. -
Superbowl on IMAX
VASC shows Super Bowl on IMAX screen -
Todd Bridgford named executive director
Todd C. Bridgford, who has served as the museum's interim director since July, assumes the post immediately.
He is chosen among a list of several hundred other applicants and a roster of five finalists for the director's position.
The museum plans to raise an estimated $7 million - including about $2 million from the private sector - for a massive new aviation exhibit. -
Attendance recorded over 400,000
From July 2000 through June 2001, it had more than 407,000 visitors. -
$8.9 million upgrade planned
Since July, the museum secured nearly $4 million, including $1.74 million in a recent appropriation from the federal government. The plan includes $1.65 million in city money.
$6.9 million will go to new exhibits on the origins of flight, aviation and the Air Force.
$1 million will be spent updating the museum's existing series of space-exploration exhibits.
$1 million will be used for the museum's endowment fund. -
Hampton agrees to $1.6 million earmark
Hampton City Council agrees to $1.6 million request from VASC for upgrades. -
10-year anniversary celebrated
VASC celebrate its 10th anniversary with a gala featuring guest musician Robin Welch and former astronaut Buzz Aldrin. -
Riverside Health Systems donates $1 million
Riverside Health Systems donates $100,000 for the next 10 years. The money will be directed toward the center's capital campaign. -
DC-9 jetliner donated by AirTran Airways
A retiring DC-9 jetliner arrives at Newport News/Williamsburg International Airport. Sections of the plane will be displayed in the center's Aviation Exhibit Hall. -
History center opens
The 18,000-square-foot Hampton History Center opens meaning the VASC no longer displays Hampton's general history. -
Adventures in Flight gallery opens
Gallery costs $6.4 million to build. -
"Circus! Science Under the Big Top" opens
The new traveling exhibit incorporates circus themes to explain physics. -
Robotics exhibit opens
Temporary exhibits runs through January 1. Robotics exhibit shows where people and robots strengths and weaknesses lie. -
Lockheed Martin donates $100,000
Lockheed Martin Corp. pledges support for the center's new Adventures in Flight gallery and upcoming Space gallery opening in 2007. -
Federal government pledges $1 million
VASC receives $1 million for a space exhibit scheduled to be open in 2007.
The $7.8 million project will renovate the entire second floor of the museum to update space exhibits.
Already, the center has raised more than $2.7 million for the new gallery and the construction of a new digital "Discovery Lab." -
456,000 admissions, IMAX tickets sold
In fiscal year 2005, which ended June 30, it sold 456,000 general admission and IMAX theater tickets -- an increase of 8 percent. It also logged a 10 percent increase in its student admissions, -
The Boeing Company donates $100,000
Money is designated for the proposed $8 million Space gallery. A total of $5.6 million has been raised to date. -
NASA administrator speaks about program
Michael Griffin speaks about retooling NASA with a long-term vision for exploration of Mars and space -
VASC hosts ice skating rink
The 5,000-square-foot rink is the first outdoor rink in Hampton. -
VASC celebrates 15 year anniversary
The Air & Space Center has a budget of just more than $5 million, with money coming from subsidies, admissions, philanthropy and a museum store. -
Space Quest: Exploring the Moon, Mars and Beyond opens
Exhibit had been planned for three years, costs $8.7 million. -
Expenses outpace revenues for first time in 12 years
The center runs a $915,027 deficit during the 2008 fiscal year, which ends this day. A contract with NASA is $1.2 million less than in the previous year.
This is the first deficit since 1996. -
NASA's 50th anniversary celebrated
VASC marks the event with a series of lectures throughout the month -
VASC roof replaced
The entire project costs $3.1 million, of which $1.5 million is for the gull-wing section.
Administrators are forced to move the center's ice skating rink while repairs are underway. -
Inaugural Yuri's Night held
Organizers said about 1,200 people attended the party, which was described as the first local edition of a global celebration of space exploration. On April 12, 1961, Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first human to travel in space. -
Second consecutive year running a deficit.
Auditors point out that the VASC has run a deficit for its second straight year. That deficit now totals $2.1 million, including debt owed on capital project costs.
Auditor questions the center's ability to raise additional revenues to balance the books. -
Auditors question debt, acknowledge "cost saving measures"
VASC is still operating with a deficit, although several cost saving measures have been implemented, according to an auditor's report. -
Director asks for $50,000 for upgrades
Todd Bridgford wants the city to consider reinvesting that $25,000, along with an additional $25,000, to help the air and space center replace the seating in its IMAX theater. The theater is currently undergoing an upgrade to show digital IMAX films -
Auditor: Organization's viability should be a concern
An auditor states in its cover letter to the board of directors that the organization's finances are a "concern."
"These conditions raise substantial doubt about the Organization's ability to continue as a going concern," auditors wrote. -
Bridgford retires - city appoints interim director
Numerous economic troubles were revealed after executive director Todd Bridgford retires.
An audit of the facility shows its board is struggling to pay a $2 million SunTrust loan,
Revenue and attendance had dropped in the previous year.
Attendance dips to less than 350,000 after years above 400,000. -
VASC accepts Orion test craft
Orion test craft was moved from the NASA Langley Research Center to the Virginia Air and Space Center -
Auditor notes increasing deficit, "adjustments" to mitigate shortfalls.
Auditors note that a $3.3 million deficit and $2.1 million loan the center has defaulted on are ongoing concern.
"The Organization has made substantial adjustments to operations to mitigate operating shortfalls." -
Mars landing celebrated
VASC remains open past midnight so NASA buffs can watch the historic landing of the Mars science rover live. -
VASC still without a director
City-appointed interim director Brian DeProfio is still operating the center. It has been more than a year since Bridgford retired.