Ohio group fights razing of historic spacesuit lab

Preservationists are squaring off with the Air Force over the fate of a World War II-era building where researchers developed the first antigravity suits for pilots and early NASA spacesuits.

The Air Force is moving to demolish Building 55 at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base because it cannot find a use for it, doesn't have the money to maintain it and needs to remove contaminated soil under it.

But the Ohio Historic Preservation Office feels the building is worth listing in the National Register of Historic Places.

It's the latest squabble in what have become periodic duels between preservationists and those seeking to demolish buildings that made military history in Dayton.

"These aren't the most important buildings in Ohio, by any means. But collectively, the Wright Field Historic District is very important, and these buildings are part of that," said Justin Cook, history reviews manager for the preservation office.

The Wright Field Historic District, which includes Building 55, is a collection of 83 buildings at the base. It includes such structures as a building that was used to glean strategic information from captured German documents during World War II.

The district is expected to be nominated by the National Park Service as a National Historic Landmark. Such landmarks are considered the most historically significant sites in the nation and often attract grants to keep them maintained, said Ann Honious, historian for the park service in Dayton.

"They're sort of the cream of the crop," she said.

Built in 1942, Building 55 housed a centrifuge that was used to test the effects of acceleration on pilots. The research lead to the development of antigravity - or G-suits - which have compartments that fill with air or fluid to prevent pilots from blacking out. The suits kept a pilot's blood from pooling in the lower body during rapid acceleration and sharp turns.

Research at the building also helped lead to the development of early NASA spacesuits.

The building sits at the fringe of the historic district and has been vacant for nearly seven years, said Raymond Baker, cultural resources manager at Wright-Patterson.

In addition, he said, soil under Building 55 is contaminated from the use of dry-cleaning machines in the structure.

"The only way to clean up the contamination, which is under the slab of the building, is to take the building down and dig out the contamination," he said.

Baker said activities that took place in the building have been documented, with photographs and engineering drawings placed in the Library of Congress.

He said the Air Force will receive comments from the state preservation office, the public and any other interested parties before proceeding to demolition. However, he said, the plan is to sign a contract by the end of September to have Building 55 demolished.

Cook said military officials often target older buildings - those more likely to have historic significance - for the wrecking ball.

"From a mission standpoint, you can't really fault them," he said. "As a preservationist, it gives us heartburn."

In January, the University of Dayton tore down a building that housed a top-secret code-breaking laboratory used during World War II, rejecting appeals from preservationists in a dispute that went on for months. The school salvaged some of the original bricks and other parts of the building to commemorate the site.

---

On the Net:

Wright-Patterson: http://www.wpafb.af.mil/