Legacy Park dedication Friday at Mojave Spaceport

MOJAVE — East Kern Airport District and the Kern County Board of Trade will celebrate the official opening and dedication of Legacy Park on Friday, August 22, beginning at 9:30 a.m.

The park is located at Airport Blvd. and Sabovich St. at the entrance to the East Kern Airport District Administration Building and the Voyager Restaurant at the Mojave Airport/Spaceport.

Among those scheduled to appear are Kern County Second District Supervisor Don Maben and aerospace pioneers Burt and Dick Rutan.

Legacy Park commemorates the contributions of Eastern Kern County’s “Aerospace Valley”.  The new park, located on the spaceport grounds, contains artifacts from the region’s storied history including the Rotary Rocket Roton, a replica of SpaceShipOne, and a mine cart from Soledad Mountain.

The park also contains a 24-hour interactive visitor kiosk. Designed and operated by the Board of Trade, the kiosk will provide around-the-clock visitor information to travelers. The unit, designed to withstand the harsh elements of Eastern Kern, is just the second of its kind in the world. The first was deployed last year at Lebec.

Mine cart
The park also features an incline mine cart from the Golden Queen Mine on Soledad Mountain southwest of Mojave. The cart was donated to the Mojave Transportation Museum Foundation by Lutz Klingmann of Golden Queen, and was restored and preserved by Paul Barton of Reefer City. Al Hansen of Mojave moved the cart to the park. Klingmann also donated $1,000 to the Museum Foundation.

According to Barton, the cart was on rails on an incline and was attached to a cable which was turned by a windlass to pull the ore to the surface. Klingmann, who will brief the Mojave Chamber of Commerce Aug. 28th on his company’s plans to reopen mining on the historic mountain, said he plans to make additional donations to the museum, and to display other East Kern mining artifacts at the mine when it opens.

The park has a concrete stage for special events such as the annual Veterans Day ceremonies, and is available for weddings and other activities.

New signs
Highway signs directing visitors to the park will be unveiled immediately following the dedication. Located on Business Route 58 at the space port entrance, the signs are contributed by the Board of Trade and installed courtesy of the Kern County Roads Department.

ORE CART from nearby Golden Queen Mine on Soledad Mountain was donated to the Mojave Transportation Museum by Lutz Klingmann of Golden Queen and was restored and preserved by Paul Barton of Reefer City. Al and Dor Hansen moved the cart Monday for installation at Legacy Park. CATHY HANSEN/Desert News

LEGACY PARK at the Mojave Airport/Spaceport will be dedicated Friday, Aug. 22nd, at 9:30 a.m. The park features the Rotary Rocket Roton and will soon house a new building for a replica of Scaled Composites SpaceShipOne, shown on display recently. The park is already attracting visitors from all over the world, including the Swiss visitors in the photo. BILL DEAVER/Desert News