thedrifter
05-21-03, 06:28 AM
May 20, 2003
Son of U-2 pilot wants to transform former prison into museum
By Peter Whoriskey
The Washington Post
LORTON, Va. — The nature of the Cold War, with its national secrecy and shadowy foreign menaces, blurs memories. But Francis Gary Powers Jr., devoted son of the famous U-2 spy plane pilot, has long wanted to bring it all into focus, and he thinks he has found the perfect place.
He is standing next to what used to be the women’s dorms at the Lorton prison, a musty old campus of corrugated metal buildings in southern Fairfax County that has a one-time Nike missile site beneath it. Here, he says, is where his eight-year quest to locate a Cold War Museum might well end.
He waves his arms and elaborates on the vision: The empty dorms would become exhibit halls; the underground Nike silos would become one of the displays; and what began as a personal quest to “honor my father’s legacy” would become a major tourist stop and historical research center, all on county park property.
“Northern Virginia is the home of the CIA, the home of many defense contractors, and there is an authentic Cold War missile site right here,” Powers says. “On top of that, we are less than 20 miles from downtown Washington, D.C. What better place?”
This month, Powers submitted a formal proposal to create a 20-acre missile-bedecked museum on the Lorton property. Fairfax officials, who last year assumed control of the 2,300-acre prison site from the federal government, appear to welcome the possibility and expect to make a decision later this year.
Museum organizers would have to raise an estimated $15 million to refurbish the site and create the displays.
“The Cold War Museum presents an incredible opportunity for us to add yet another wonderful asset to the former correctional site,” said Supervisor Gerald W. Hyland, who represents the area. “I am absolutely excited about the prospect.”
Powers’s proposal says: “People live with the legacy of the Cold War every day in ways that we are aware of and ways we are not. [This] is a conscious decision to preserve its vestiges while they still exist.”
For Powers, 37, president of the Vienna-Tysons Regional Chamber of Commerce, the project began as a means of remembering his father, Francis Gary Powers, whose U-2 was shot down by the Soviets in 1960, sparking an international incident. The elder Powers, who was from Pound, Va., later died in the crash of a TV traffic helicopter that he was piloting in Los Angeles. It was 1977, the year his son turned 12.
In the early 1990s, the son discovered how much the father had been forgotten. “I was going around to high schools talking about the U-2 incident, and the kids thought I was going to be talking about the rock band,” Powers recalled. “I wanted to do something to help people remember.”
The museum initially was going to be the Francis Gary Powers Museum, and its first traveling exhibit had a football-size chunk of the crashed U-2, Powers’s flight suit and helmet and a rug he made from a potato sack during his 21 months in a Soviet prison.
The memorial effort soon broadened to include the entire Cold War, from the end of World War II until the collapse of the Soviet Union.
“My father has already been recognized for his contributions during the Cold War,” Powers said. “We — our board of directors — realized that there were hundreds of thousands of other men and women who had fought and sacrificed during the Cold War, and we felt they needed to be recognized, too.”
Since 1995, the museum has acquired a collection of Cold War paraphernalia that goes far beyond the U-2 incident and that Powers estimates is worth more than $2 million. Included are a Soviet SA-2 air-defense missile, doors and bunks from a Stasi prison in what was East Germany, a KGB colonel’s uniform, and the mailbox used as a drop site by spy Aldrich H. Ames.
Approval of the Lorton site would add the Nike missile silos to the display list. The Nike sites, named for the Greek goddess of victory, made up the first U.S. air defense system designed to protect against a Soviet nuclear attack, according to a Fairfax County pamphlet on the Lorton site.
The headline on a 1955 Washington Post and Times Herald story about Lorton put it this way: “Nike, Washington’s Last-Ditch Defense, Is Battle-Ready If Atom Attack Comes.”
The underground silos were later capped with concrete, but could be uncorked by the museum. An “Atomic Cafe” and “Safe House” restaurant also are envisioned.
Christian Ostermann, director of the Cold War history project at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, is an informal adviser to the museum and commended Powers for “making every effort to reach out to Cold War historians and experts.”
The museum’s collection “has been sort of an eclectic thing,” said Cargill Hall, historian for the National Reconnaissance Office and a board member of the museum. “They need a place to begin to order these items and plan for a more rational and integrated collection.”
As the number of artifacts has grown, the museum concept has gained political and financial momentum as well.
Last year, the Virginia General Assembly approved $24,000 in matching seed money for the project. A Veterans of Foreign Wars post in Springfield kicked in $20,000. And U.S. Sen. George Allen, R-Va., has endorsed the site for a museum.
Even if enough money can be raised to make Powers’ vision a reality, the nature of the Cold War probably will pose challenges to the museum’s curators for decades to come.
“Visitors ... could learn about declassified intelligence programs,” Hall said, “but there are Eisenhower-era programs that today are still classified.”
Hall believes the museum would improve with time. “It’s part of your heritage and my heritage,” he said. “Perhaps one day, our grandchildren will be able to see these fantastic systems that shaped the way the Cold War played out.”
Sempers,
Roger
Son of U-2 pilot wants to transform former prison into museum
By Peter Whoriskey
The Washington Post
LORTON, Va. — The nature of the Cold War, with its national secrecy and shadowy foreign menaces, blurs memories. But Francis Gary Powers Jr., devoted son of the famous U-2 spy plane pilot, has long wanted to bring it all into focus, and he thinks he has found the perfect place.
He is standing next to what used to be the women’s dorms at the Lorton prison, a musty old campus of corrugated metal buildings in southern Fairfax County that has a one-time Nike missile site beneath it. Here, he says, is where his eight-year quest to locate a Cold War Museum might well end.
He waves his arms and elaborates on the vision: The empty dorms would become exhibit halls; the underground Nike silos would become one of the displays; and what began as a personal quest to “honor my father’s legacy” would become a major tourist stop and historical research center, all on county park property.
“Northern Virginia is the home of the CIA, the home of many defense contractors, and there is an authentic Cold War missile site right here,” Powers says. “On top of that, we are less than 20 miles from downtown Washington, D.C. What better place?”
This month, Powers submitted a formal proposal to create a 20-acre missile-bedecked museum on the Lorton property. Fairfax officials, who last year assumed control of the 2,300-acre prison site from the federal government, appear to welcome the possibility and expect to make a decision later this year.
Museum organizers would have to raise an estimated $15 million to refurbish the site and create the displays.
“The Cold War Museum presents an incredible opportunity for us to add yet another wonderful asset to the former correctional site,” said Supervisor Gerald W. Hyland, who represents the area. “I am absolutely excited about the prospect.”
Powers’s proposal says: “People live with the legacy of the Cold War every day in ways that we are aware of and ways we are not. [This] is a conscious decision to preserve its vestiges while they still exist.”
For Powers, 37, president of the Vienna-Tysons Regional Chamber of Commerce, the project began as a means of remembering his father, Francis Gary Powers, whose U-2 was shot down by the Soviets in 1960, sparking an international incident. The elder Powers, who was from Pound, Va., later died in the crash of a TV traffic helicopter that he was piloting in Los Angeles. It was 1977, the year his son turned 12.
In the early 1990s, the son discovered how much the father had been forgotten. “I was going around to high schools talking about the U-2 incident, and the kids thought I was going to be talking about the rock band,” Powers recalled. “I wanted to do something to help people remember.”
The museum initially was going to be the Francis Gary Powers Museum, and its first traveling exhibit had a football-size chunk of the crashed U-2, Powers’s flight suit and helmet and a rug he made from a potato sack during his 21 months in a Soviet prison.
The memorial effort soon broadened to include the entire Cold War, from the end of World War II until the collapse of the Soviet Union.
“My father has already been recognized for his contributions during the Cold War,” Powers said. “We — our board of directors — realized that there were hundreds of thousands of other men and women who had fought and sacrificed during the Cold War, and we felt they needed to be recognized, too.”
Since 1995, the museum has acquired a collection of Cold War paraphernalia that goes far beyond the U-2 incident and that Powers estimates is worth more than $2 million. Included are a Soviet SA-2 air-defense missile, doors and bunks from a Stasi prison in what was East Germany, a KGB colonel’s uniform, and the mailbox used as a drop site by spy Aldrich H. Ames.
Approval of the Lorton site would add the Nike missile silos to the display list. The Nike sites, named for the Greek goddess of victory, made up the first U.S. air defense system designed to protect against a Soviet nuclear attack, according to a Fairfax County pamphlet on the Lorton site.
The headline on a 1955 Washington Post and Times Herald story about Lorton put it this way: “Nike, Washington’s Last-Ditch Defense, Is Battle-Ready If Atom Attack Comes.”
The underground silos were later capped with concrete, but could be uncorked by the museum. An “Atomic Cafe” and “Safe House” restaurant also are envisioned.
Christian Ostermann, director of the Cold War history project at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, is an informal adviser to the museum and commended Powers for “making every effort to reach out to Cold War historians and experts.”
The museum’s collection “has been sort of an eclectic thing,” said Cargill Hall, historian for the National Reconnaissance Office and a board member of the museum. “They need a place to begin to order these items and plan for a more rational and integrated collection.”
As the number of artifacts has grown, the museum concept has gained political and financial momentum as well.
Last year, the Virginia General Assembly approved $24,000 in matching seed money for the project. A Veterans of Foreign Wars post in Springfield kicked in $20,000. And U.S. Sen. George Allen, R-Va., has endorsed the site for a museum.
Even if enough money can be raised to make Powers’ vision a reality, the nature of the Cold War probably will pose challenges to the museum’s curators for decades to come.
“Visitors ... could learn about declassified intelligence programs,” Hall said, “but there are Eisenhower-era programs that today are still classified.”
Hall believes the museum would improve with time. “It’s part of your heritage and my heritage,” he said. “Perhaps one day, our grandchildren will be able to see these fantastic systems that shaped the way the Cold War played out.”
Sempers,
Roger