Experience the Airport Fountain re-dedication + CRA terminal open house!
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| Artistic design featuring the airport fountain and old terminal, seen posted inside of the old terminal - Optopolis |
The Cheyenne Historic Preservation Board and also Arts Cheyenne previously held an event to both re-dedicate Cheyenne's historic Airport Fountain and offer self-guided tours of Cheyenne Regional Airport's 1960s air terminal.
A glance at the history of the fountain and Cheyenne Regional Airport
In the day, Cheyenne's airport was known for its air mail system. A sign displayed on the original airport terminal building notes that the Cheyenne Airport was established on September 8, 1920, the same year that the U.S. Post Office began using the airport in its coast-to-coast air mail service.
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| Cheyenne Airport established September 8, 1920 as seen on this sign on the original terminal building - Optopolis |
In addition to serving as a location for the air mail system, the airport was used to maintain and repair airplanes. It eventually became one of many airports where people could even fly commercially. In 1929, Cheyenne's original air terminal building was built to accommodate increasing travel by air.
Fast forward to 1935, Cheyenne would commission a new fountain on E 8th Avenue near the today-intersection of Warren Avenue. It was built to help beautify the area which served as an entry point for the airport, while also representing a necessary part of the air travel infrastructure at the time; according to preservation architect Jerry Berggren, "the form of the...tower portion [of the fountain] is to replicate the beacons that those...airmail pilots followed across [a] route... It was a visual landmark to keep them on course... [So,] it's not just a haphazard design, it has some history of its own."
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| The fully-restored Airport Fountain as seen on a day prior to the re-dedication event - Optopolis |
After World War II (during which, the airport served as a modification center for bombers), the Cheyenne airport began to lose its prominence as air services moved to other, more populous areas such as Denver.
In spite of this, a new terminal building would be built around the turn of the 1960s that would replace the older terminal; a sign inside the 1960s terminal notes that the terminal was erected in 1960. Later in 1983, the Airport Fountain (and the nearby passenger terminal) would even be added to the National Register of Historic Places.
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| A view of the 1960s airport terminal, seen in 2011 - Google Maps Street View |
After many years of sitting unused, the aging fountain was worn out; parts of the terra-cotta were crumbling, and the structure as a whole was-for lack of a better term-falling apart. In more recent years especially in the 2000s and 2010s, effort was put in to restore the fountain to its former glory. Many groups had involvement in the restoration project including the Cheyenne Historic Preservation Board.
Sticking with chronological order here, another new terminal building was to be built just north of the cemetery on E Pershing Blvd and just northwest of Airport Pkwy. The new terminal was completed in 2018. According to Cheyenne Regional Airport's website, the new terminal was erected in part due to the age of the old terminal which was having numerous operational problems.
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| The newest Airport terminal on Airport Pkwy just north of the cemetery - Optopolis |
As of 2020, phase one of the Airport Fountain's restoration project (which encompassed the waterproofing of the lower and upper bowls of the fountain, upgrading the plumbing and wiring, etc.) was complete. It was concluded in 2021 with an event where the fountain was turned on and the beacon light was lit.
Phase two involved the restoration of the terra-cotta designs which were still showing significant signs of deterioration and decay. The designs feature clouds through which an airplane may have flown. This phase is also now complete.
In early to mid-2023, the small parcel of land on which the fountain sits would be named Airport Fountain Park after CHPB members previously launched a petition to call the area as such.
More recently on Saturday, September 9th, 2023, an event was set to be held at both Airport Fountain Park and also the old airport terminal to not only re-dedicate the fully-restored Airport Fountain, but also to learn about what the future holds for the currently vacant airport terminal located just southeast of the original 1920s/1930s terminal.
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| The 1960s airport terminal as seen during the open house - Optopolis |
Airport Fountain re-dedication
Starting at approximately 10:30 AM MT on September 9th, a re-dedication event was held at Airport Fountain Park. Speakers at the event discussed the history of Cheyenne's airport and the airport fountain.
The process of restoring the fountain was also discussed, touching on topics such as the cost and the actual approach used on the project. At the end of the re-dedication event, the fountain was turned on, and visitors were served a slice of cake (you can see a 40-minute video of the event below, or alternatively, see the brief, shortened 1-minute version here).
When ready, visitors were encouraged to walk over to the Airport terminal for self-guided tours and also the terminal's open house as a whole.
Airport terminal open house and self-guided tours
Arts Cheyenne has been looking at new possibilities for how to reuse the iconic 1960s terminal building. According to Mike Morris, Arts Cheyenne is, "a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that undertakes arts planning and coordination here in the city of Cheyenne, and really, Laramie County as a whole;" the organization recently received a $50,000 grant from the NEA to aid the process of revitalizing the currently vacant airport terminal building.
On September 9th between 10 AM MT and 2 PM MT, the general public was invited to explore the old terminal building and also to share their thoughts on what should become of the aging structure. The project has been branded as the Arts & Aviation Center. Initial plans for the building already indicate possible ideas for reuse such as an aviation museum with an outdoor aviation gallery, a community section, retail/restaurant space, and even an art gallery.
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| A display board shows some potential possibilities for the terminal including a restaurant, an aviation museum and gallery, an art gallery, retail and community space, and even a "community plaza." - Optopolis |
During this event, the public was encouraged to post their ideas to a display board and to also take a quick online survey where they could further share their thoughts and ideas for the future of the terminal. Arts Cheyenne has since updated the Aviation Center's page to include a link to the survey for those that missed the event.
Meanwhile, visitors (Optopolis included) explored the building. Very old airplanes were even put on display, and people could come outside and see them up close. You can get a taste of what this portion of the event was like by checking out the video below.
Two food trucks were present for the event: Noam's Table and Jay's Northwoods BBQ. Arts Cheyenne placed their ArtHaus trailer outside for the duration of the event as well.
Wyoming Aviation Heritage League had a table set up inside of the terminal for the duration of this event; Wyoming Aviation Heritage League is "a small group [that is] working to obtain non-profit 501(c)3 status." Their goal is serving the needs of historic aviation preservation, and they are "intending to fundraise to help [the terminal] become a valued space and functional icon of Cheyenne as well as Wyoming." You can contact the Wyoming Aviation Heritage League at wyoaviationheritage@gmail.com.
You can find more information about the Airport Fountain restoration on Berggren Architects' news page and portfolio page. Info about historic restoration service from Colorado's Mountain Masonry can be found on their website; also, you can learn more about the Cheyenne Historic Preservation Board on the Cheyenne city website. As for the Airport terminal, you can find more information about Arts Cheyenne's terminal project on their respective webpage.
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