‘Blue Cube’ exhibit planned
Sunnyvale Historical Society seeking information to accompany artifacts
If you ever worked inside the mysterious “Blue Cube,” the Sunnyvale Historical Society and Museum Association wants to hear from you.
It’s all part of research for a proposed exhibit at the museum about the notoriously secretive building.
According to Heritage Park director Laura Babcock, many of the programs worked on at the facility have since been declassified, opening the door to former employees to speak.
“We could never do an exhibit before because we could never talk to anyone,” said Babcock, who noted that the exhibit is about a year away from reality. “President Obama several years ago declassified the majority of the work done in the Blue Cube, so people can say, ‘Yes I worked there.’”
Employees in the windowless building tracked satellites during the Cold War, and the building was accessible only to those with special clearance. It was known as the Air Force Satellite Test Center in 1960 and was later renamed Onizuka Air Force Station after astronaut Ellison Onizuka, who perished in the Challenger space shuttle disaster.
According to a California Office of Historic Preservation Historic American Buildings Survey, the land was transferred from Lockheed Aircraft Corp. to the U.S. Air Force in 1968 and the Blue Cube was constructed that year.
The airbase closed in 2011, and in 2014 the cube was dismantled. Last fall, the Foothill Sunnyvale College Center, a campus of the Foothill-De Anza Community College District, opened where the cube once stood.
According to Foothill employees, the staff toured the facility before demolition and were able to mark artifacts they wanted to save. The original plan was to display the items in the school, but according to Babcock, the school didn’t have the room for all of them.
The Sunnyvale Historical Society and Museum Association was contacted to see if they would like to display the items. The exhibit is slated to become a permanent part of the museum, Babcock said.
“Now we’re looking for engineers to help tell the story,” Babcock said, adding that two engineers have already come forward to share their stories.
“The museum strives very hard to collect all history, including current history, not just old history and especially that which was quite iconic in the city,” she said. “Everyone knew the Blue Cube; they just didn’t know what happened in it. It was an iconic building in the city; it was something quite unusual.”
Those who worked at the site or have related artifacts they are willing to share with the museum should email to info@heritageparkmuseum or call 408749-0220.