Oregon air museum set to reopen after WWII blimp hangar sale

The Tillamook Air Museum in Oregon is preparing to reopen on 29 October after the World War II-era blimp hangar that houses it changed hands for a dollar.

The Port of Tillamook Bay approved the transfer in August, and the sale to the Utah-based Vintage Aviation Museum is now complete. The nonprofit takes on responsibility for preserving the structure and intends to carry out roof repairs and add to the museum's exhibits.

The museum has been shut since December 2025, when a windstorm opened a roughly 200-foot-long gash in the hangar's roof. In May, port commissioners voted against paying for the repairs, citing the cost and doubts about the building's financial viability over time. Officials had earlier been given repair estimates of between $2.5 million and $6.5 million.

Vintage Aviation Museum president Sean O'Brien, a general contractor who has worked in Tillamook before, agreed to take over the hangar and restore it. He believes the job can be done for considerably less than the port's figures, according to The Oregonian.

The museum announced its reopening date on 9 October, saying aircraft and exhibits were being moved back into the building while roof repairs are organised. In a statement, the museum described the reopening as a major milestone and said it was only the beginning.

Hangar B was built by the U.S. Navy in 1943 and is one of two large timber structures put up at Naval Air Station Tillamook for the K-class airships used on coastal patrols during the war. The building is 1,072 feet long, close to 300 feet wide and about 175 feet tall. The other, Hangar A, was lost to fire in 1992, which left Hangar B as the one that remains. The new owners plan to fix the storm-damaged roof and then move on to longer-term work.