City announces May open house date for World War II barracks

On May 22, the City of Douglas will open Barracks #5 located at Douglas Municipal Gene Chambers Airport from 1PM-4PM to see the renovations to the facility. The building, Barracks #5, is a part of the historic World War II Army-Air Force Flight Training Air Base and was utilized as housing for the cadets that trained at the Air Base before transferring to other bases to advance their flight training.

As one of the eleven original buildings, Barracks #5 remained standing through the years. In 2020, seeing the need to preserve and repurpose the building, the City of Douglas was awarded $10,000.00 from the Georgia Historic Preservation Division of DNR. Funds from the DNR Grant and the City of Douglas allowed a new roof to be placed on the building as well as other improvements to occur in hopes the building will be used for an aviation-type business or aviation-related purpose.

Other open house dates for 2023 will be August 9 (9AM-1PM), August 24 (1PM-4PM), September 5 (9AM-1PM), and September 29 (1PM-4PM). The open house is free of charge. For more information about the historic airbase or preservation efforts, call Community Development at (912) 383-0277.