The AWA Museum Design Team plans a flexible, professional showcase for the world’s largest, most comprehensive radio and other electronics communications treasure trove—one that benefits visitors and researchers alike.

Architectural Drawings

Click the drawing to download a hi-resolution PDF.

Our 2-acre Museum and Research Center site with three buildings is being donated by museum director and long-time AWA member Thomas Peterson, Jr. The Museum building is sound but will require extensive renovations and retrofit to accommodate our professional museum needs and standards.

Museum Building

The 10,000sf Museum increases display exhibit space by about five times over our present museum and will offer ADA accessibility, proper preservative climate control, and fire/flood protection.

New museum facade drawing

A 1936 cobalt blue Sparton 557 radio inspired our new Museum's façade.

The arresting, high façade of cobalt blue and chrome will flag visitors and usher them into a lobby and gift shop area. There’s plenty of parking. Our curatorial team led by Bruce Roloson plans 14 permanent displays along with the capability of 26 rotating exhibits. Some potential subjects:

  • The Birth of Wireless
  • Radio’s Amazing Pioneers
  • Transmitters, Sparks & Tubes
  • SOS (Maritime Communications—the Titanic & other ships)
  • Old Time Radio
  • The Magic Box (Early Television)
  • Invention, Patents & Conflicts
  • Ham Radio
  • America at War
  • Movies & Memorabilia
  • Reaching into Space
  • Modern Communications
  • Old Time Radio Store

The Museum will offer a comfortable modern 60-seat auditorium for students and visitors. It views a real, operating radio station.

Other Campus Buildings

Building 2 is the Dr Max Bodmer 3,000sf Library Media Center thanks to a major gift by Dr. Max Bodmer. Building 3 is a 4,000sf building for display development, storage and repair.