Fundraisers Hope to Find New Home for Curtiss Jenny
By: Melissa Foy
Updated: March 6, 2013
You only have about a year and a half left to see the Curtiss Jenny take flight in Wichita Falls.
Robert Seabury, chairman of the Call Field Memorial Committee, says, "The Curtiss Jenny needs a permanent location."
The Jenny could soon have a new home: the new terminal at Wichita Falls Municipal Airport.
"We'd have thousands of people that would see it out there," Seabury says.
Right now, about 20 to 30 people see it monthly.
"That's really not enough people," Seabury says.
Plus, being 95-years-old and made of only cloth and wood, the Jenny is very delicate.
Seabury says it would be best if the Jenny can stay in an air-conditioned, climate-controlled facility.
"It's a part of the heritage of our city. It played such a key role in the development of our city and the history of our city."
If Seabury and history lovers can raise enough money, the plane will be housed in the terminal, which is scheduled to open Nov. 2014.
"It's kind of exciting. We're going to have a T-38 from Sheppard that's going to be in the exhibit with the Jenny," Seabury says.
The project will cost an estimated $405-thousand.
They have about $240-thousand raised so far, thanks mostly to the 4B Sales Tax Board, which gave $202-thousand.
Fundraisers have until August to raise the balance.
Seabury says they need community support to make sure this piece of Wichita Falls history remains in the city.
If you'd like to help, you can call him at 696- 8783.
There are also upcoming fundraisers to help raise the balance.
