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Lowry Air Force Base
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Lowry Air Force Base

Air Training Command Emblem.png
Part of Air Training Command (ATC)
Located in Aurora and Denver, Colorado
Built 4 Oct 1937
In use Activated 27 Dec 1937
Open 12 Dec 1938 - closed 30 Sep 1994,
Runway closed July 1966[1]

Lowry Air Force Base (1938–1994) is a former United States Air Force base located in the cities of Aurora and Denver, Colorado. Its primary mission throughout its existence was Air Force technical training and was heavily involved with the training of United States Army Air Forces bomber crews during World War II. It was also the home of the United States Air Force Academy from 1954 to 1958, until the Academy's permanent site in Colorado Springs was completed.


Lowry was permanently closed by actions of the 1991 Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC II) commission in 1994. The land is now being used for commercial and residential development, though many of the old military buildings are still in use.
[edit] Reuse

Lowry AFB's two massive hangars currently house the Wings Over the Rockies Air and Space Museum (Hangar 1 and 2, Building 401 and 402, respectively). Another hangar, formerly Building 1499, has been converted to the Big Bear Ice Rink. One of the former dormitories is currently owned and used by the Logan School for Creative Learning and was remodeled beginning 2004 and ending in late 2006. Also, some of the base housing is currently owned and used by Stanley British Primary School and other buildings are occupied by the Aurora Community College at Lowry.[5]

Other outbuildings and facilities have been demolished or are in the process of being demolished to make room for new development, while other buildings such as the former steam power plant and headquarters building are being renovated for new usage in the form of modern lofts and housing. Few abandoned, original buildings remain, although one dormitory facility and a former medical building on the east end of the base are owned by the state as part of the Higher Education and Technology campus and have not yet been renovated and are off-limits.[edit] Military presence

The last remaining military facility is the Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS) Finance Center. The last remaining Air Force facility, at Lowry, the Air Reserve Personnel Center,[6] moved to nearby Buckley Air Force Base in August 2011.[7]