Columbia, SC (WLTX) - The historic Curtiss-Wright Hangar at the Hamilton-Owens Airport will become a microbrewery.
Richland County officials announced Thursday the hanger has been sold to Hangar Owners LLC for $176,000. The developer plans to restore the structure, then lease it to the owner of Hunter-Gatherer Brewery in Columbia, who'll use the site for beer-making.
The sale ends a years-long debate on what to do with the hangar, which was built 86 years ago.
“Hallelujah,” said Richland County Councilman Greg Pearce about the sale in a statement. “We’ve been working on getting to this point for nearly 20 years. We were quickly running out of time to save this bit of important American aviation history. This is a milestone for me that I can check off my County Council ‘bucket list.’”
The Curtiss-Wright Hangar is on the National Register of Historic Places. As part of the sale arrangement, the restoration will be done by standards established by the National Park Service and administered by the South Carolina Department of History and Archives.
The owner of Hangar Owners is Robert Lewis, a board member of the Historic Columbia Foundation who was involved in the restoration of the 701 Whaley building.
