Vision Statement
Vision for First Airline New Monument Project
(Approved August 12, 2015)
(Approved August 12, 2015)
- To accomplish a worthy public art commemoration of the world’s first airline.
- To bring wide-spread public recognition to the story of the First Airline and St. Petersburg’s and Tampa Bay’s unique association with it.
- To recognize the future-oriented leadership and interest in new technology exhibited by early city makers who welcomed and facilitated the First Airline’s location in St. Petersburg.
- Include a significant replica of the Benoist Airboat No. 43, the first airliner.
- Possibly Include a human element such as Tony Jannus, the chief pilot; Percy Fansler, the creator; Tom Benoist, the entrepreneur; and Abe Pheil, the first passenger; and/or the public.
- To design the commemoration as a destination, locating it in an area that maximizes the number of persons viewing it.
- To design a commemoration appealing to all peoples and all ages.
- Design a public space for the commemoration.
- Locate the commemoration near the original St. Petersburg-Tampa Airboat Line hangar, if possible.
- To complement the St. Petersburg’s Museum of History’s First Flight Gallery.
- To replace the current degrading 1930’s First Airline monument on the approach to the Pier.
- To also integrate into the First Airline Monument Space elements of the 1930s monument and the nearby American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics plaque designating the Central Yacht Basin as an Historic Aerospace Site.