HISTORY
The anti-aircraft museum was founded in 1957 in Santahamina and was constructed in the former Papinlahti officer club building. However, at the time, the museum was not available to the public. In 1967, The Air Defence School proposed to the National Defence Minister that the Museum would be moved from Santahamina to Hyrylä and was to be constructed in the former Captain's Lodge Building. This new location for the museum would allow for the public to be able to visit the museum. The National Defense Minister agreed to the proposition, however, demanded there would be no development costs to the Finnish goverment for building the museum. The construction and development process of the museum was mostly supported by voluntary work from private companies, organizations, and independant workers all of whom had some relation to national defense. By June 4th 1969 the museum was available to the public. In the year 1987, The Finnish Defence Minister proclaimed the Anti-Aircraft Museum as a special historical landmark. Later on as the museum gained more publicity; more anti-aircraft related equipment and mementos were added. As a result, some of the larger items were placed outside because of the lack of space in the Museum's main building. As a result, certain museum items that were placed outside, such as the searchlights, suffered from the weather. Once again the museum did not have enough space to store the new electronic equipment. As a result, the first official showroom was constructed. In 1996 the showroom was built voluntarily by anti-aircraft personnel and by many support donators. The original plan was to build two showrooms, however due to insufficient funds, only one showroom was built at first. After 50 years of work, the museum is near completion, with a new showroom which has been opened on 4th June 2007. |
