- Posted April 02, 2014
- Tweet This | Share on Facebook
More than a $1M needed by May 1 to save Rosie's plant
By Mike Householder
Associated Press
DETROIT (AP) -- A group trying to save the Detroit-area factory where Rosie the Riveter became an icon of American female empowerment during World War II recently said that it must raise $1.5 million in little more than a month to save the site from being demolished.
Those behind the Save the Bomber Plant campaign said they have raised $6.5 million of the $8 million they need by May 1 to buy the Willow Run Bomber Plant west of Detroit. They want to convert the factory where Rose Will Monroe and other workers built B-24 bombers into a museum dedicated to aviation and the countless other Rosies who toiled at similar U.S. plants to aid the war effort.
The group has received several extensions by which to acquire a portion of the old plant, but the time has come to either raise the necessary money or see it relegated to the history books, said Dennis Norton, the president of the Michigan Aerospace Foundation and one of the leaders of the effort to save the plant.
"They need an answer from us," Norton said, referring to the trust set up to oversee properties owned by a pre-bankruptcy General Motors. "Demolition is underway, and they can't stop demolishing the plant, then come back later."
Norton and his team want to separate and preserve 175,000 square feet of the Ypsilanti Township, Mich., site and convert it into a new, expanded home for the Yankee Air Museum, which would move from its current location less than 2 miles away. Included would be the iconic 150-foot-wide doors through which thousands of bombers left the plant to play their role in winning the war.
The plant where Monroe and her fellow workers labored is "one of the birthplaces of modern America," campaign fundraising consultant Michael Montgomery said, explaining the importance of saving it. He said that in addition to churning out a bomber every hour, workers of different races and sexes worked side-by-side for equal pay -- an achievement that would be acknowledged at a reconstituted Yankee Air Museum.
Montgomery says he is "guardedly optimistic," that the group can raise the rest of the money over the next few weeks, and Norton gave the group "a 75 percent chance of pulling it off."
Meetings with some "major donor prospects" have been scheduled, Montgomery said.
----------------
Online:
http://www.savethebomberplant.org.
Published: Wed, Apr 2, 2014
headlines Oakland County
- Annual Dinner & Meeting
- FORCE Team arrests six in prolific auto theft ring
- Michigan allocates $12 million to support community-based organizations in advancing environmental and climate justice
- Oakland County and SMART launch pilot program providing free transit for veterans and dependents
- Supreme Court sides with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
headlines National
- More lawyers—and clients—want to learn about sustainable development practices
- Top artificial intelligence insurance tips for lawyers
- Lawyer charged with illegally transmitting Michigan data after 2020 election
- Viral video shows former Rikers Island inmate as she learns she passed bar exam on first try
- How Sullivan & Cromwell is scrutinizing potential new hires after campus protests
- No separate hearing required when police seize cars loaned to drivers accused of drug crimes, SCOTUS rules