ADDISON, Texas — The Cavanaugh Flight Museum at the Addison Airport has closed after more than three decades of displaying historic aircraft dating back to World War I.
In a Facebook post on Friday, the museum announced the final weekend of 2023 would be its last accepting visitors.
"We truly appreciate each and every guest who has come to enjoy the aircraft with us over the past 30 years," the post said.
The Town of Addison said the museum's lease was set to end in 2024 to make way for new private jet hangers, office space and parking. The new construction will enhance the value of the airport, the town said.
"The Cavanaugh Flight Museum has been part of the fabric of Addison for more than 30 years and its historic planes have been featured in Addison’s Kaboom Town airshow for more than a decade," town spokesperson Mary Rosenbleeth said in a statement to WFAA. "It is regrettable that Addison Airport is not large enough to be able to accommodate the world-class facility that an historically significant aviation collection of this caliber deserves."
The museum said its planes would be moving to the North Texas Regional Airport in Denison, though it was not clear whether they would remain on public display. No one from the museum responded to WFAA's request for comment on Monday.
"I hope everyone enjoyed it while they could," said Scott Copeland, an aviation buff who frequented the museum since it opened in the early 90s.
"Now that the day’s actually here, it’s a letdown. It’s disheartening. There just aren’t a lot of these around and it’s a shame to lose one," he said.
For other families, the museum represented a shared love of aviation that stretched generations. Todd Pappas came to the museum with both his father and his son.
"These things are getting rarer and rarer to see and appreciate," he said. "If I had known, a little bit more lead time, [we] might have gotten out here a time or two just to visit. But you know it happened so quick, I was really taken aback by it."
Rosenbleeth said the changes had been a long time coming. Addison voters did not pass funding for a new aviation museum in a bond election in 2008, she said. By then, it had become apparent to the town that the existing location wouldn't meet the needs of the museum, she said.
"A purpose-built aviation museum would require 10 -15 acres and the Addison Airport does not have space to support a development of that size," Rosenbleeth said. She said the Addison City Council approved a lease extension into 2024 so the museum would have time to plan for its future.
On its website, the museum offered its thanks to visitors, volunteers, donors and staff for "helping keep these magnificent artifacts of time on display and available for generations to experience the rich history that these aircraft reveal to us."