'Heritage and Legacy': Racer Air Plaza continues to move forward

May 2—A project to place four refurbished, retired military aircraft at Veterans Memorial Park in Terre Haute continues to move forward as one of the jets nears completion and fundraising continues.

As planned, the Racer Air Plaza would be located on the southeast corner of the Vigo County Veterans Memorial Park, which surrounds the Indiana State University football stadium off Wabash Avenue.

A target completion date for the project is the Thursday before Memorial Day 2025, says Chris Egge, treasurer of the Vigo County Veterans Memorial Park board.

All fundraising goes through the Veterans Memorial Park, a 501c3 nonprofit.

Four retired jet aircraft formerly used by the 181st Fighter Wing — now the 181st Intelligence Wing — are being cosmetically refurbished and will be located at the plaza.

The four aircraft are an F-4C Phantom; an F-16C Falcon; and F-84F Thunderstreak and an F-100D Super Sabre.

The F-84F Thunderstreak is close to completion, and a media event is expected to take place in the next few weeks for its unveiling.

"This is very meticulous detail work," Egge said. "And it's being done the right way, which is exciting."

Volunteers with expertise on the fighter jets, including retired Air Guard members, are assisting with refurbishing efforts, which includes sanding and hand painting.

Chad Williams of Williams Aviation is donating time to oversee the refurbishment, and Brad Bole of Blackburn Collision has volunteered to assist with the painting.

"There has been a lot of community collaboration," Egge said. Among the donors have been Duke Energy and CenterPoint Energy, and recently, Wabash Valley Community Foundation awarded the project a $25,000 grant.

Project partners include the 181st, city of Terre Haute, Vigo County, Terre Haute Regional Airport, THRIVE West Central, RJL Solutions and the Terre Haute Chamber of Commerce.

While original projections suggested the pricetag could be about $200,000, the cost is expected to well exceed that amount. Government funding cannot be used for the project.

"We have raised enough and continue to raise enough to keep the project moving. We've been able to raise enough to keep the plane refurbishment process going," Egge said.

"That's our number one goal. Even if, for whatever reason, we don't raise enough funds to get the park built and meet the timeline, at least we'll have all four planes done and then we can continue fundraising to get the park built," Egge said.

Planes won't be moved to Veterans Memorial Park until the plaza is completed, he said.

Craig Maschino, executive director of Terre Haute Regional Airport, serves on the Racer Air Plaza committee. "We're pretty excited about it," he said.

The committee has said from the beginning, "Think big on this," Maschino said. "Have something people will want to come here and see. It's got to be something like no one else has."

It's one more initiative to improve quality of place, he said.

It's anticipated the first plane should be complete in the next 30 days, and once that happens, the intent is to have a media event and move it to inside the front gate of the 181st, Maschino said.

The plane would remain there until the plaza is ready for it.

While committee members hope to complete the project by Memorial Day 2025, it could take longer to raise the funding necessary, Maschino said.

"I think that's a best-case scenario," but committee members remain hopeful, he said. It's a volunteer effort.

"We are hoping for a big kickoff with the Air Show here (June 1 and 2) to re-energize everyone," Maschino said.

As for Egge, "It's a really, really cool project and I want to see it come to fruition," he said.

Last year, when the project was first announced, Charles Goad, wing commander of the 181st Intelligence Wing, said of Racer Air Plaza, "It's all about heritage and legacy. This unit has done great things for the world through various missions, both flying and not flying. This is just a way to mark that and to show appreciation to the community."

Sue Loughlin can be reached at 812-231-4235 or at sue.loughlin@tribstar.com. Follow Sue on X at @TribStarSue.