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Show Bryce Canyon Airport Hangar Blends With Beauty of Area & .W'' . .... M Bryce Canyon Airport Hangar The unusual barn-like hangar at Bryce Canyon airport, listed on the U.S. Historical Register, is a dying species and probably the last left of its kind in the nation. In the mid 1930 s, remote places like Garfield County began to realize the benefit that could be derived from the then-embryo air services. The forces of the Works Programs Administration (WPA) and Garfield County combined to bring the project about. The country was then in the midst of the great depression but the project was able to move forward with much of the labor donated. The unusual building is a saw-log structure, barn-shaped with gabled roof of corrugated tin. The roof is supported by an intricate network of large timbers, and a half-timber effect is achieved at the front gable by an angular placement of logs. From the front facade it appears that there are additions on either side of the hanger, however, only the south side addition is a true shed. It contains the airport offices and waiting room. On the north side there is merely a shed overhang with a narrow chamber on the front containing the sliding door. The main portion of the hangar, excluding the sheds, measures approximately 65 x 45 feet. Double sashed windows, each with six panes, were placed in a continuous row on all sides of the structure, facing into the shed on the north. The native ponderosa pine logs, retaining much of the bark, used in construciton of the hangar were cut as part of the CCC project to eradicate the black beetle in southern Utah. The infested trees were cut and sawed at the East Fork Sevier River sawmill by volunteers. They hauled the logs with teams of horses to the construction site. The Reuben "Ruby" Syrett family, founders of Rubys Inn resort at Bryce Canyon, used its tractors to level the runway which is 7586 feet in length. Design of the structure and construction supervision was handled by the three county commissioners, com-missioners, Sam Pollock, Jennings Allen and Walter Daly. A small metal plaque centered over the front entry reads: "Airport hanger, constructed by Garfield County and the Work Progress Administration, 1936-37." The airport has been in continuous operation since that date. In the realms of airplane hangar construction and design, the buidling is truly an oddity as many pilots from all over the nation will testify. The barn-like construction of native materials reflects the ranching-agricultural background of the men who built it. Having no previous experience in designing or building an airplane hangar, they built in the style they knew with what they had. The soundness of the building that has housed many airplanes over the years bears witness to the excellence ex-cellence of craftsmanship and ingenuity of design. |