Maximum Effort Capital Campaign Reaches $18.3 Million: Enters Final Phase of Improvements The National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force’s
Maximum Effort capital campaign has reached a milestone of $18.3 million. The initiative will begin its third and final phase of improvements this month. The building and permanent exhibition improvements will continue through mid-2027.
The campaign began with a $4.5 million commitment from Chatham County’s SPLOST 7 referendum and a goal of $10 million. Five years and 275 gifts later, Maximum Effort has reached $18 million, surpassing the original goal by 80%. Nearly $5 million has been invested in improvements to date; another $1 million has been invested in the museum’s endowment; $1 million is restricted to restoration of the B-24 coming to the museum; and $10 million will be invested in Phase III improvements.
“It is clear that the museum’s vision resonates with its supporters. Museum leadership is grateful to the many donors to the capital campaign for their generous support of Maximum Effort,” stated Scott W. Loehr, the museum’s President and CEO.
These improvements include a Program & Event Center in the new 20,000-square-foot addition to the museum, with seating capacity greater than 350. The addition also will house more curatorial space to manage and care for the museum’s growing permanent collection. Two classrooms to support the H+STEM curriculum and an Open Collections Gallery are being constructed in the existing museum.
Museum staff and the exhibit design firm, dmdg2, have spent three years designing a new immersive, multi-media permanent exhibition entitled Combat in the Sky: A World War II History of the US Eighth Air Force. The exhibition will showcase the museum’s B-17, City of Savannah, and the newly-acquired B-24, and feature hundreds of new objects from the museum’s collection.
Gifts to the Maximum Effort campaign have come from individuals, corporations, and foundations across the United States. Many of the donors are descendants of World War II Eighth Air Force veterans.
The capital improvements will begin in February 2026. Completion of the project is scheduled for late summer 2027. For more information, please contact Dawn Brosnan at marketing@mightyeighth.org or (912) 988-1847.
Exhibit Renderings
The following concept renderings illustrate key exhibit environments planned for the capital campaign of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force.
Final design details may evolve through the development process.
Rendering: Arial concept view of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force expansion, illustrating the new visitor flow and planned gallery spaces. Credit: dmdg2.
Rendering: The front facade of the expansion of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force. Credit: dmdg2
Rendering: The new main rotunda/entrance of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force expansion. Credit: dmdg2
Rendering: Concept view of the Dark Clouds on the Horizon gallery within the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force expansion. Credit: dmdg2.
Rendering: Concept view of Anatomy of the Eighth, a new gallery space within the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force expansion and future home of the B-24, coming in 2027. Credit: dmdg2.
Rendering: Concept view of The Airman’s Fate, a new POW and Escape & Evasion gallery within the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force expansion. Credit: dmdg2.
Photograph: 1902 boxcar used to transport Allied POWs during World War II. Credit: National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force.
Rendering: Concept view of Service Above Self, a memorial gallery within the museum’s expansion featuring 26,000 dog tags displayed in honor of the airmen of the Eighth Air Force who made the ultimate sacrifice. Credit: dmdg2.