Historical Highlights

• 2006 The historical marker for the Del Valle Army Air Base/Bergstrom Airforce Base, commemorating World War II military service in Texas, was unveiled at the Hilton Austin Airport. For the Fox 7 coverage of the event Go to the following link. http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/video/011006ABIA_KTBC.wmv

• 2001 The Hilton Austin Airport Hotel opened and was selected by Texas Construction Magazine as the Outstanding Renovation Project for 2001.

¾ The current first-floor lobby area was originally opened with parking areas underneath the perimeter of the building.

¾ The operations command post and the communications center that were situated below ground on the lower level were converted into meeting rooms.

¾ Renovation of the building allowed the City to hold onto an important piece of its history. The unique design remains a landmark of which the City is truly proud.

¾ The courtyard for the Air Force Building, open from 1968 to 1993 was converted into Hilton’s Atrium.

¾ The 30’ x 30’ acrylic mural, located on the back wall of the Atrium, was painted by Doug Jaques. Road to Wimberley

On a late afternoon in Spring of the year 2000, after being commissioned to paint a mural for the lobby of the new Airport Hilton hotel, and given the theme of Texas hill country, my wife Linda and I got into our pick-up truck, armed with cameras, and headed for the hills to gather visual material for our mural. We took the road from Dripping Springs to Wimberley. Along the side of the road the wildflowers were in riotous bloom. The shoulders of the road were paved with native limestone, in many places solid beds of karst, weathered by rain. Having a sudden inspiration, I pulled over, picked some of the brightest flowers, scattered them on the limestone bed, pointed the camera straight down and shot. The resulting image became the border or frame or window for our mural, establishing a context for the landscape.

The rest of our image collecting followed easily as we continued along the road. The dome of sky above, from deep ultramarine blue at its zenith to pale turquoise at the horizon…snap, click, wondrous! The clouds blazoned peach by the late afternoon sun…point, shoot, awesome. The long blue-violet shadows cast by the trees on the roadside…soothing, cool, and quiet.

Put it all together in a composition, not so easy, but it worked well. Paint it as a 31’x30’ mural and install it, very, very difficult, but hopefully the result is at least a dim reflection of the glory you will encounter along any hill country road in Texas.

Doug Jaques 512-454-4277 www.jaquesstudio.com

¾ The Hilton’s 7,000 sq. ft. Bergstrom Ballroom was formally the military command center below ground and was designed like a theatre.

• 1999 Construction began on the new Hilton Austin Airport. Robert Mueller Municipal Airport closed to passenger service and the new Austin-Bergstrom International Airport began passenger service. Total passengers (in- and out-bound) reached 6, 670,851, a 9.97% increase in 1999 over the previous year. Air Cargo had a record month, carrying 27,234,093 lbs., up 11% from last year.

• 1998 Landmark Organization, an Austin-based development company, was contracted by the City of Austin to convert an abandoned, two-story 1968 building into a three–story premier airport conference hotel.

• 1997 Austin-Bergstrom International Airport began Air Cargo Operations.

• 1994 Community celebrated groundbreaking for Austin-Bergstrom International Airport.

• 1993 Bergstrom Air Force Base was closed after 51 years of operation. Only a fighter wing remained on the base until it was inactivated in the fall of 1995. Voters approved, by 63 percent, $400 million in revenue bonds to build Austin's new airport at Bergstrom Air Force Base. The Base property reverts to the City of Austin.

• 1992 The U.S. Justice Department approved the transfer of Bergstrom Air Force Base land and facilities to the City of Austin. The 12th Air Force Headquarters moved to Tucson, Arizona.

• 1991 Blackbirds, the 12th Reconnaissance Squadron, flew 476 sorties (Raid, Maneuver, Foray) from January to April in support of operation Desert Shield. The Blackbirds returned to Austin for a hero’s welcome with the city’s first victory parade since World War II. Bergstrom Air Force Base appears on the military base closure list, with the stipulation that the Reserves 924th Fighter Group can stay if a civilian airport is built there. City Council resolves to relocate the airport to Bergstrom.

• 1990 Bergstrom Air Force Base listed as one of 75 military facilities under study for possible closure. Closure of the base was delayed due to the Gulf War.

• 1989 State legislature drafted a bill that required the City to close Mueller Airport by 1997 or sound-insulate an estimated 39 churches and eight other public buildings in high-noise areas.

• 1987 Voters approved a referendum to build an airport at Manor and make interim improvements to Mueller Airport.

• 1985 First airport referendum: A non-binding referendum to close Robert Mueller Airport. It fails by less than one percent of the vote.

• 1979 The visited Bergstrom Air Force Base, followed by the space shuttles Columbia and Discovery aboard their carrier aircraft in 1981 and 1985

• 1975 An airport site selection study chose Bergstrom Air Force Base as the best site for expansion.

• 1968 Bergstrom Air Force Base “Donut” headquarters building is completed (September 1st) at a cost of nearly $3 million.

¾ The base housed the 67th Reconnaissance Wing, 12th Air Force Headquarters, 12th Tactical Intelligence Squadron, 712th Air Support Operations Center, 10th Air Force Reserve, and 924th Fighter Group

¾ The original headquarters building was a circular, two story structure designed by Page-Southland-Page Architect Engineering firm of Austin and built by Stokes Construction Company of San Marcos, under the supervision of the Fort Worth Army Engineering District.

¾ The original building had 500 windows, almost 20,000 cubic yards of concrete weighing nearly 1,500 tons, 760 tons of steel reinforcing and a 500-ton air conditioning system powerful enough to cool 170 averaged-sized homes.

¾ The building became know as “The Donut” but the average designation was building 2900. It also carried names such as “The Little Pentagon” and the “Roundagon”

¾ “The Donut” was 123,210 square feet of floor space and had an overall building diameter of 312 feet, slightly longer than a football field.

¾ The building’s wiring, if stretched out, was over 2,700 miles long - long enough to reach from Austin to Seattle, Washington.

¾ The electrical system was an unusual design to accommodate the circular configuration. Wiring on each floor was contained in a conduit which ran under the hallway and was connected to rooms by spoke-like tubes under the floors.

¾ The basement under the plaza of reinforced concrete was designed to be made into a secure area if needed. Three guard cages at three entrances to the plaza were made of concrete with bullet-resistant windows.

¾ Bergstrom Air Force Base was one of three bunkers in the U.S. where the President of the United States could be flown for safety in the event of a nuclear attack.

¾ The military command center below ground was designed like a theatre, with a center room sloping downward toward a stage where presentations were made. In the rear of the room on the highest part of the ground, sat the glass enclosed “Battle Cab”. This is where generals held high level talks in privacy.

¾ In the 1960’s, Bergstrom Air Force Base became a frequent landing site for the President’s plane, “”.

¾ Lyndon Johnson flew in and out of this airfield while traveling between Washington and his ranch in Texas.

• 1958 Department of Aviation began oversight of airport operations and maintenance.

• 1956 City installed Instrument Landing System and high intensity runway lighting system; the runway was extended to 7,269 feet.

• 1948 With the establishment of a separate Air Force, the base was renamed Bergstrom Air Force Base

• 1943 Del Valle Base was renamed Bergstrom Army Air Field in honor of Capt. John August Earl Bergstrom, believed to be the first Travis County soldier killed in World War II.

• 1942 City of Austin purchase land for Del Valle Army Air Base. New terminal building opens at Mueller Airport.

• 1930 Robert Mueller Municipal Airport named for Council Member Robert Mueller, opened with a 1,000-foot-long, 100-foot-wide runway, one steel-frame hangar building and a small office terminal.

• 1928 Army Lt. Claire Chennault , leader of the World War II “Flying Tigers”, was sent to Austin to select a site suitable for a municipal airport. City Council purchases 340 acres for $60,785 to build airport on site.

• 1911 Austin’s aviation activity began October 29th 1911 when adventurer Calbraith Perry Rodgers landed the “Vin Fiz”, a Wright Ex Flyer brothers biplane, at 45th and Duval in Austin, during his transcontinental flight.