Harris Hill Park – Elmira NY

Description

“The prominence of soaring in Elmira was established with the first thirteen national soaring contests, held here from 1930 to 1946. This was made possible through an alliance of the Soaring Society of America (SSA), the Harris Hill Soaring Corporation (HHSC), and what became our county’s Chamber of Commerce. Harris Hill, home to the Museum and HHSC, has since hosted many other national, regional and international contests and exhibitions. The Works Projects Administration (WPA) built Chemung County’s Harris Hill Park in the 1930s. These facilities included the gliderport, hangars, cabins for housing contest pilots and crews, a youth camp, and an administration building. The field at which the national contests were held is still active (operated by HHSC) with the runway directly in front of the museum…

In 1969, SSA designated Harris Hill as the site for the National Soaring Museum. The Museum serves as the official repository of SSA archives, and on SSA’s behalf, it hosts and administers the U.S. Soaring Hall of Fame…NSM replaced the fire-damaged WPA-era administration building in 1979 with a new 16,000 sq. ft. facility. ” (www.soaringmuseum.org)