SAN ANTONIO – A historic landmark in San Antonio revealed its new look Friday after receiving a $2.8 million facelift.
The restored Hangar 9 officially opened Friday afternoon as a new event space.
"It's a 1918 building, so a lot of renovations were needed," said Connie Gonzalez, director of public relations at Brooks City Base. "Our construction team found a lot of hidden gems that made a lot of challenges for them, but now, a year later, we're here and celebrating the grand reopening."
Hangar 9 is a San Antonio landmark and a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark and is listed in the Texas State Historical Survey and the National Register of Historic Places.
"It's a wooden, gorgeous white building," Gonzalez said. "The ceilings are about 30 feet high. It's nearly 9,000 square feet inside."
Built in 1918, it is the oldest wooden aircraft hangar of its kind still standing in its original location at Brooks Field, which was named after Sidney Brooks Jr., who was the first San Antonio native to die in World War I after a training accident.
"Right behind Hangar 9, there’s a park and that's the gravesite of Lt. Sidney Brooks, our namesake," Gonzalez said. "It's really nice. You'll be able to walk to the plaza where his remains still lie."
The historic hangar, which was initially designed to allow up to eight Curtiss JN-4, or "Jenny," biplanes to be housed at one time, will now serve as a tribute to those who served in World War I.
"The significance of this World War wooden airplane hangar makes it an exciting venue for pretty much anything that anybody wants to do at this historic event site," said Charles Stallcup, executive vice president of the Phoenix Hospitality Group.
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