Veterans museum needs to move

HAYDEN — Richard Le Francis has a dream.

He also has a problem.

Like a lot of people, he needs some money before being tossed onto the street — but hang on just a bit for that story.

Le Francis and a couple of colleagues run the Pappy Boyington Veterans Museum, a fascinating but frustratingly obscure destination on west Wyoming Avenue in Hayden.

The idea for putting what is essentially an aviation museum across the road from the airport seemed logical enough, especially since Le Francis and fellow sculptor Bryan Ross were deeply involved in creating and installing the airfield’s statue of Boyington — the World War II flying ace and Medal of Honor winner who was born in Coeur d’Alene.

The statue project certainly seemed appropriate, since Boyington is tied with World War I ace Eddie Rickenbacker for U.S. fighter kills with 26 and led the famous “Black Sleep” squadron in the South Pacific during World War II.

The eight-foot statue eventually was unveiled on Flag Day in 2015.

Boyington was such a character and charismatic figure that there was a 1970s TV show based on Pappy and his squadron called “Baa Baa Black Sheep.”

Le Francis believes passionately that an aviation museum dedicated to Boyington — who grew up in St. Maries and later came back to this area — should be an iconic local site.

Unfortunately, the only building available near the airport was the old Fraternal Order of Eagles structure near the corner of Wyoming and Ramsey Road, basically a stone’s throw from the airport — and now the statue of Boyington.

“When the Eagles built a new building, the old one was in such bad shape that it was almost yellow and you could still smell cigarette smoke,” Le Francis said. “The Eagles were planning to have it demolished.”

Instead, Le Francis took what he admits was “a jump straight off the edge” and worked out a lease agreement for six years. The museum gang — which includes Dale Childers, Foy DeMoss and Theresa Hart — fixed up the building (Le Francis tossing in $22,000 of his own money) and began acquiring artifacts.

It is now a terrific museum, complete with a lot of Boyington’s memorabilia, items and photos of other local war heroes, and plenty more fascinating displays.

But there are two huge difficulties: one perhaps solvable, the other maybe not.

The museum crew is running on a shoestring budget — a fundraiser is planned for Saturday and Sunday — and one of the casualties has been publicity.

“The location isn’t easy to find,” Le Francis said. “It’s not downtown with other tourist sites. We don’t even have a nice sign you can see from the street, because we just can’t afford it.”

Despite the out-in-the-boonies location, the museum has attracted more visitors each year it’s been open — from just 35 at the beginning to several hundred each season currently.

What’s more, people who visit form a wide circle, and more items have been donated than the 5,000-square-foot building can hold.

“That part has been amazing,” Le Francis said. “Look at this: It’s a signed print showing the dogfight in which Pappy was finally shot down by Masajiro Kawato. Pappy and Kawato each wrote autobiographies, and they became friends after the war. It’s a fantastic story.

“But this print was headed for the dump when somebody saved it. What a great discovery.”

Le Francis’ enthusiasm drops, however, when he addresses reality.

The Eagles have terminated the museum’s lease, which expires Dec. 31, and approaches to buy the building outright have been unsuccessful.

Eagles employee Deanna Chapin explained Friday that all business decisions for the club are made by its board of trustees. She said the Eagles’ relationship with Le Francis has been a good one, but trustees plan to rent out the building for events like conferences, weddings and memorial services.

“It’s more feasible for us than the museum,” she said, adding that the offer to buy the building wasn’t nearly strong enough to make the transaction work.

“We don’t want to kick him out in the cold,” Chapin said. “He just needs to be over at the airport.”

What happens next is anybody’s guess, although Le Francis has some goals.

The hundreds of valuable artifacts are not in danger, since Le Francis has a hangar at the airport in which they can be temporarily stored.

“But what I really hope will happen,” Le Francis said, “is that we can build a proper museum on a lot that’s empty, across the street and next to the airport.

“This area needs a first-class meeting space, not to mention a café for the airport customers. We could provide all of that in a fantastic museum that’s basically in the shadow of Pappy’s statue.

“What we need, obviously, is somebody with enough money — or maybe a company, someone who uses the airport regularly — to sponsor the project.

“It would be fantastic publicity for them, and it would allow the area to continue the museum tribute to Pappy Boyington.

“Somehow, some way, we’re just determined that a museum this valuable to the Coeur d’Alene area is just not going to go away.”