Once Howard Hughes made the decision to locate his new plant in Tucson, the aviation tycoon was able to get just about everything he needed to get the project underway and fast.
The Star published a list of the inducements that the airport authority agreed to in order to close the deal. Among them was construction of a water line capable of supplying 1,600,000 gallons of water a day and building a mile and a half of railroad spur.
They required a mile of sewer line put in and two and a half miles of fencing moved and repaired. A paved taxiway was to be built from the airport taxiway to the Hughes property line.
Also, a six lane paved highway was needed across three miles of airport property and a 15-mile power line was to be constructed. Finally, the airport authority agreed to secure title to land adjacent to the airport for resale to the Hughes Co.
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The obligations incurred by the airport totaled $459,742.
Hughes power did not stop with those requests. Fifty-three minutes after the formal announcement was made in Washington, on Feb. 2, 1951, bulldozers began work on the multi-million dollar guided-missile manufacturing plant.
The building was completed and in operation by December 16, 1951.
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File photo
The Hughes Aircraft plant, looking north, in the 1950’s.
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