Welcome to the unofficial photo diary of the demolition and rebirth of a major section of the Boeing Long Beach, California factory (formerly Douglas Aircraft).

Adjacent to the north edge of Long Beach airport, the proposed 260 acre project lies west of Lakewood Blvd and is slated for conversion into a mixed commercial-residential development, has been dubbed "Douglas Park" by Boeing Realty Corp. Plans for the final configuration are currently evolving, even as the demolition continues.

Production of the 717 commercial jet transport and C-17 military transport continue in the newer sections of the factory complex, but the majority of the 1940s-era facility will face the wrecking ball.

The Long Beach facility of the Douglas Aircraft Company opened in 1941 and went on to produce over 15,000 planes. Commercial transports included the DC-3, C-47, DC-8, DC-9, DC-10, MD-80, MD-90 and MD-11. Military aircraft models included the B-17, A-20, A-26, C-74, C-124, A-4D, C-133.

McDonnell Douglas merged with Boeing in 1997, and the Douglas Aircraft Company became the Douglas Products Division. In 1998, the Douglas name was dropped altogether when the facility was renamed the Long Beach Division of Boeing Commercial Airplanes.

This "diary" provides a view of the demolition and reconstruction through photos and movies. Keep up with the developments via the blog (sorry, it doen't work in Netscape 4) or the What's New and archives pages (Netscape 4 OK).