Aviation Museum Inks Deal to Save ‘Rosie the Riveter’ Plant

The Yankee Air Museum in Michigan has signed an agreement to purchase a portion of a historic former factory associated with the “Rosie the Riveter” army of women who built bombers during World War II, The Ann Arbor News and the Associated Press report.

The prospective deal, which museum founder Dennis Norton said he hopes to close in late July or early August, follows an $8-million fundraising campaign to save a 150,000-square-foot section of the Willow Run Bomber Plant west of Detroit from demolition.

The building’s owner, the Revitalizing Auto Communities Environmental Response Trust, extended the campaign deadline several times over the past year to facilitate the sale. The Willow Run site also included a General Motors plant and is one of several GM sites the trust took over as part of the auto maker’s bankruptcy case.

Terms of the sale were not disclosed. Mr. Norton said the purchase represented an “insignificant” portion of the money raised and that most funds from the continuing campaign will be used “to turn [the plant] back into a functional building” that can house the Yankee Air Museum’s collection.