Client: Fairchild Air Force Base
Location: Spokane, WA
Size: 941,000 sf (over 11 acres)
Cost: $10,000 (Richaven only)
Dates: Completed 2018
Mr. Rich was the Preservation Architect for the condition assessment this 11 acre National Register eligible airplane hangar. Built in 1942, it is the oldest and largest hangar at Fairchild and third largest hangar in the world. During WW II, it served as a B-17 bomber maintenance facility and during the Cold War as a primary base serving the Strategic Air Command with bombers and refueling aircraft. Its historic significance is associated with the exceptionally important theme of massive nuclear retaliation. The condition assessment evaluated all parts of the exterior and hangar bays, identifying character defining features and guiding recommendations for treatments sensitive to the historic building fabric. The hangar is subject to extreme weather exposure from winter to summer temperatures, heavy use and abuse, minimal maintenance, and functional owner focus.
Significant issues encountered in the course of this project included:
- Concrete degradation due to snow removal, deicing chemicals, efflorescence, and salts, rust jacking, spalling
- Wood window deterioration, including broken glazing, glazing compound, wood rot, and paint coating failures
- Corrosion and failure of hangar doors (frames, wheels, motors, glazing)
- Failure of metal roofing, copings and flashings
- Failure of paint coatings on all exterior and interior materials
- Failure of waterproofing coatings on exterior concrete
- Absence of insulation and heating systems in hangars
- Masonry and mortar joint failure – freeze-thaw degradation due to moisture trapped by water protective coatings.