How Many Gov't Agencies Does it Take ...

Historic Hangar One, Moffett Field, 1/10/2012.

A friend was over at Moffett Field this week and sent me some photos that show the work on historic Hangar One. The "de-skinning" is going along much faster than any of us expected.

There is an offer on the table from the Google founders to "re-skin" it, if they can just store their fleet of planes there--who knew they had a fleet of planes? But their offer is a good one, and would save the hangar. And there the offer sits.

It has been absolutely fascinating to see the skin come off this amazing building--it is ten football fields long, for one thing. Much less discouraging than I thought it would be, since it looks even more astonishing with the skin off, than it did with the skin on.

But, how long can those girders last when the winter rains come? The Navy is doing the clean-up since the toxins in the hangar "belong" to the old Navy base.  NASA is the landlord of the property that includes the hangar today.

When the cathedral-like landmark turns into a big rust bucket: no one will want to claim her.

So as the two government agencies sit amidst their red tape and each stares out to a different spot on the horizon, the offer from Google just sits there, getting lost under the paperwork.

Google's founders say they would like to "re-skin" just when the "de-skinners" have completed their work, so that they can take advantage of all the scaffolding and equipment that is being used for A, which would reduce the cost of B.

It is difficult to imagine the government lawyers in Washington trying to figure out the logic of that simple formula!

Meanwhile, I cross my fingers and hope that Hangar One does not turn into an historic pile of rusty girders--while silly people dither and a truly sensible solution from private industry vanishes into the sunny California sky.

Subscribe to Robin Chapman News