Evergreen Aviation and Space Museum Gets New Lease on Life After Stoller Acquisition

The Evergreen Aviation and Space Museum appears to have entered a hopeful new era after the property and assets surrounding the McMinnville facility were purchased by wealthy entrepreneur Bill Stoller.

A company controlled by Stoller purchased part of the museum, home to the famous Spruce Goose, an adjacent water park and acreage in a deal that was announced Friday. Stoller’s company paid $9.5 million.

Stoller, 68, a hometown Yamhill County product, made a sizable fortune in the temporary employment business. He also owns a large winery in Dayton, his hometown.

In a statement, Stoller said he was motivated to buy the property out of loyalty to Yamhill County.

“Growing up in a small rural community, I have a deep desire to further the economic vitality of my hometown so that future generations have opportunities to thrive,” he said. “The Wings & Waves Waterpark and the Evergreen Aviation and Space Museum are unique assets to Oregon, and I’m pleased that we can continue their mission and advance the destination as a prime economic driver in Yamhill County.”

Fans of the museum said they hope Stoller can bring some stability to the long-struggling operation.

“This is a great day,” said Paul Peterson, who formerly ran an educational program out of the museum. “Bill Stoller is a good guy, a legit guy. A hopeless situation now has a future.”

Things did indeed look hopeless for the museum when it was in the hands of the former owner, a Utah-based company called The Falls Event Center. The Falls Event Center was, in turn, controlled by Steve Down, a colorful Utah promoter, later accused by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission of defrauding investors.

Many Yamhill County locals stood by Down, even as he sold airplanes out of the museum to ease his own cash flow problems.

But in the end, The Falls Event Center filed bankruptcy, which was the first step to Stoller’s purchase Friday. The bankruptcy and the long train of mom and pop investors who claimed they’d lost their retirement savings to Down, complicated the process of closing the deal.

Gary Mortensen, president of Stoller Wine Group, said they worked to close the purchase for 18 months.

The museum remains in a strange ownership situation. While Stoller bought the water park, adjacent acreage and the space museum wing of the facility, the aviation museum itself, where the Spruce Goose is located, remains in the hands of George Schott, a wealthy aviation buff.

Mortensen said unifying museum ownership into one entity might happen someday. “It would be optimal to have it under one owner,” he said. “But it has to make sense.”

--Jeff Manning | 971-263-5164 | [email protected]

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