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Hampton's Air Power Park and Museum relaunches with new amenities

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HAMPTON, Va. — The city of Hampton "relaunched" Air Power Park and Museum on Saturday with restored air and spacecraft and new water access.

According to the city, after six years of construction, four of five phases of the park's redevelopment are now complete.

Saturday morning, Mayor Donnie Tuck and other city leaders, along with leadership from Joint Base Langley-Eustis and NASA's Langley Research Center, cut the ribbon on the updated park.

Features included restored air and spacecraft connected to the city's history, plus a new dock and kayak launch allowing access to Newmarket Creek.

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“This pier was not here before so you could not activate it," said David McCauley, Director of Hampton's Department of Parks & Recreation. "People can now come out and they can use their kayaks, their personal kayaks, and launch them and enjoy the water and it connects to other waterways and it’s a really enjoyable experience.”

McCauley says construction costs several millions of dollars and was funded with the help of grants. It was done in part to make the space more resilient to rising sea levels.

Air Power Park and Museum is located on Mercury Boulevard near LaSalle Avenue.

The museum portion is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and the park is open from sunrise to sunset.