Plains of Fame held a ceremonial groundbreaking in Santa Maria for a new air museum campus that officials and museum representatives said will include a 56,000-square-foot main display hangar and house more than 60 aircraft from the museum’s collection.

"The museum will be a local civic amenity, will serve as a regional draw, bringing visitors from throughout the region to Santa Maria," Dave Rose, Santa Maria city manager, said at the event on behalf of Mayor Patino and the City Council. He added the museum is expected to host students and veterans and to support local hotels and restaurants.

A Plains of Fame representative said Building Alpha, which the ceremony marked the start of, "will be just over 56,000 square feet and include a large main display hangar, which will showcase many of our flyable aircraft of the World War 2 era." The representative said the museum’s collection totals "over a 60 aircraft" and that several dozen will be relocated to the new campus for flight demonstrations, air shows and a flight experience ride program.

The city manager tied the project to Santa Maria’s aviation history, citing the region’s training programs and existing aviation facilities. "For a quarter century, the Hancock College of Aeronautics trained thousands of pilots… That land is now Allan Hancock College," Rose said, and he noted the Central Coast Jet Center and the air tanker base that support wildfire responses.

At the start of the ceremony, an event host pointed to a Lockheed Electra aircraft on site and said it had been flown in that morning by Les Woblesey, identified as chairman of the museum’s board of directors. "That is his aircraft and he just flew it in this morning," the host said.

Museum representatives highlighted the Central Coast Airfest, an annual event produced by Plains of Fame, saying the festival drew more than 20,000 visitors last year and that the museum expects to continue that program from the new Santa Maria campus. The transcript did not specify project funding sources, construction timeline, permits or required approvals.

Organizers described the groundbreaking as the start of a multi‑phase campus buildout and said the museum will offer educational programming for area schools and public events. No formal city actions, votes or funding commitments were recorded in the transcript provided.