DAYTON, Ohio (AP) — A new $46 million aircraft and spacegallery at the National Museum of the U.S.
Air Force is now scheduled toopen in late 2015, with five companies competing to build it.TheU.S. Army Corps
of Engineers will select the winning bid forconstruction of the 224,000-square-foot building for the museum
atWright-Patterson Air Force Base near Dayton. The building to house rarepresidential and research and
development aircraft, spacecraft and cargoplanes is expected to promote tourism, according to museum
DirectorJohn Hudson."We know it will boost attendance," said Hudson, aretired Air Force lieutenant
general. "We are confident that is going tobe a big attraction."Museum officials did not release
estimateson how much the expansion is expected to increase attendance, the DaytonDaily News reported. More
than 1.2 million people visited the museumlast year.Hudson says the exact cost of the building won’t beknown
until the contract is awarded later this year. The Air ForceMuseum Foundation has raised $38 million to pay
for the expansion, andwill continue raising money after construction begins, said MonaVollmer, the
foundation’s chief development officer.Bids for the construction are due Oct. 2, with the work scheduled to
begin next year."The bottom line is we’re moving forward and we’re on track with our plans for the
fourth building," Hudson said.The lowest priced bidder may not be the winning contractor, according to
the newspaper."Theaward will be made to the contractor whose proposal has been determinedby the source
selection evaluation board to have provided the bestvalue to the government," the Corps of Engineers
said in an email to thenewspaper.Four presidential planes and numerous research anddevelopment aircraft will
be moved to the main complex from a hangar onWright-Patterson that is temporarily off limits to museum
visitors.Atough fundraising environment and environmental studies forcedofficials to push back earlier plans
to have the new building open inmid-2014.___Information from: Dayton Daily News, http://www.daytondailynews.comCopyright 2013
The Associated Press.