On the eve of the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Marine Corps, a groundbreaking was celebrated Tuesday, Oct. 28, for the Flying Leatherneck Aviation Museum, which will keep some of that history alive at the Irvine Great Park.

The museum, planned as a 131,000-square-foot facility that will be built close to what was once the Marine Corps Air Station El Toro’s Hangar 297, is a private-public partnership between the Flying Leatherneck Historical Foundation, the city of Irvine and the Marine Corps. The space will document the stories of aviators, veterans and civilians whose lives intersected with the base from World War II through the Vietnam War.

  • Officials shovel dirt during a groundbreaking for the Flying Leatherneck...
    Officials shovel dirt during a groundbreaking for the Flying Leatherneck Aviation Museum at the Great Park in Irvine, CA on Tuesday, Oct. 28, 2025. The 131,000-square-foot facility is planned for completion in spring 2027. (Photo by Paul Bersebach, Orange County Register/SCNG)

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Officials shovel dirt during a groundbreaking for the Flying Leatherneck Aviation Museum at the Great Park in Irvine, CA on Tuesday, Oct. 28, 2025. The 131,000-square-foot facility is planned for completion in spring 2027. (Photo by Paul Bersebach, Orange County Register/SCNG)

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“It’s a real honor to gather here today next to historic Hangar 297 to make good on this promise made to those who served,” Irvine Councilmember and Great Park Chairman Mike Carroll said during the ceremony Tuesday, Oct. 28.

The new facility will stand as the only museum primarily dedicated to U.S. Marine Corps aviation. Its flight path to the Great Park was winding, speakers said.

The museum was first established in 1989 at the El Toro base in Orange County, before moving to MCAS Miramar in San Diego in 1999.

In 2021, the Flying Leatherneck Museum was at risk of closing when it was announced that Miramar would no longer be able to host the museum because of budget constraints.

That announcement spurred a community campaign and the museum was given a temporary reprieve from closure. Supporters quickly raised $5 million in relocation funds.

An agreement was struck with the city to bring it to the Great Park, cementing the museum’s return to Orange County. Historical aircraft started last year making the trip up from San Diego to be refurbished and eventually displayed.

Tuesday’s groundbreaking event also marks the first construction in the Cultural Terrace section of the developing 1,300 Great Park, which broke ground last year.

The 300-acre Great Park’s Cultural Terrace will eventually be home to the Pretend City Children’s Museum, a new facility for Orange County Music and Dance and a first-of-its-kind in Orange County Asian-American history museum.

In total, the terrace is planned to feature 200,000 square feet of museum, educational and performing arts space, planned to open in three to five years. 

The Flying Leatherneck museum is expected to open in spring 2027, showcasing various artifacts and exhibits and more than 40 military airplanes and helicopters, officials said at the ceremony.