Military Heritage & Aviation Museum

Military Heritage Museum

Location within Florida
Location	900 West Marion Ave, Punta Gorda, Florida, USA
Coordinates	26.93569°N 82.05281°W / 26.93569; -82.05281
Website	Military Heritage Museum

The Military Heritage Museum is a military museum in Punta Gorda, Florida.

Museum history

The museum first opened as the Florida Military Heritage Museum at a storefront in Fishermen's Village on Pearl Harbor Day, 2001. In 2003, it merged with a local aviation museum located at Charlotte County Airport, becoming the Military Heritage and Aviation Museum.[1] Because its lease had run out, the museum was forced to relocate to another location within Punta Gorda in 2005, but it eventually returned to Fishermen's Village in September 2007, in a new location three times as large as the previous.[2] In April 2018, it unveiled plans to move to the IMPAC building, [3] a former business training center located on West Marion Avenue, and began renovating the theater and outfitting two floors of the building with flight simulators and other interactive exhibits. The new location officially opened in April 2019.[4][5]

Partnerships

Memberships

• American Association of Museums
• Florida Association of Museums
• Charlotte County Chamber of Commerce
• Punta Gorda Chamber of Commerce
• Greater Englewood Chamber of Commerce
• Arts & Humanities Council of Charlotte County
• Charlotte County Veterans Council

Other partnerships

• American Legion Post 103
• Disabled American Veterans
• Disabled American Veterans, Chapter 82
• Florida International Air Show
• Southwest Florida Honor Flight
• Women in Military Service for America Memorial
• Women's Vietnam Memorial
• Witness to War Foundation
• Vietnam Wall of Southwest Florida, Inc.
• Charlotte Community Foundation

Library

The museum contains its own library, which contains over five thousand volumes of military history, technology, biographies, and narratives.

References

1. Carpenter, Marilyn (October 13, 2006). "Museum plans soar with $1 million donation". Sarasota Herald-Tribune. Retrieved July 25, 2024.
2. Williams, Betsy (October 3, 2007). "Nurse recalls Pearl Harbor at reopening of museum". Saratoga Herald-Tribune. Retrieved July 31, 2024.
3. "Popular Punta Gorda military history museum moving to new location". WINK-TV. April 23, 2018.
4. Pray, Rusty (March 24, 2019). "Look inside new Military Heritage Museum". Charlotte Sun.
5. Pray, Rusty (April 17, 2019). "Military museum cuts ribbon on new era in Punta Gorda". Charlotte Sun.