Contributed NEW DISPLAY — The Allegheny County Airport has been added to the Miniature Railroad and Village at the Carnegie Science Center.

PITTSBURGH — The Allegheny County Airport has been unveiled as the first visitor’s choice model in the Miniature Railroad and Village at the Carnegie Science Center.

“From the outset, we recognized the importance of involving the very people we serve, and their support, enthusiasm and votes have been instrumental in shaping our new models,” said Jason Brown, Henry Buhl Jr. director of the science center during Tuesday’s unveiling. “With the addition of the Allegheny County Airport model, we are not merely expanding our miniature world, we are further including our community and fortifying their connections to organizations around Pittsburgh in miniature form.”

For the first time visitors had the chance to vote on the model between Sept. 5, 2022, and Jan. 15. A total of 43,871 visitors chose among the airport in West Mifflin, the Fredrick J. Osterling Office and Studio on the North Side and the Oliver Miller Homestead in South Park. The airport won with 22,519 votes.

“Allegheny County Airport has been an iconic landmark in Western Pennsylvania for more than 90 years. It launched the Pittsburgh region as an aviation leader in 1931 and today continues to be a significant contributor to the region and the industry,” said Christina Cassotis, CEO of the Allegheny County Airport Authority. “On behalf of ACAA, I’m thrilled the Carnegie Science Center decided to include a model of this aviation icon among so many local greats represented in the display.”

Combining new and traditional methods used by Charlie Bowdish, creator of the exhibit, the science center’s team of experts recreated the airport model down to its smallest details.

Pieces of the model such as the windows, portico, control tower, doors, and the planters were 3D-printed. The walls, made of white acrylic, were taken into the BNY Mellon Fab Lab where the team laser cut individual bricks into the building.

Highlighting the history of Allegheny County Airport’s opening, a crowd of hand-painted onlookers watch a flight show. In true Bowdish-style, the team hand-painted the floors and the elaborate Aztec detailing around the decorative window above the front doors. The roof is additionally made of fine-grained sandpaper. Behind Allegheny County Airport, there will be a new animation: An airplane with a spinning propeller.

The display shows the Pittsburgh region’s rich and diverse history up until 1940, including people, events, and places that have had a marked influence on the region. Models chosen fit the timeline and have a rich social history, which enables visitors to draw personal connections to the exhibition’s story.

Visitors can vote for the next display at a kiosk inside the exhibition through Jan. 14. The winner will be unveiled Oct. 5, 2024.

Formerly known as Pittsburgh-Allegheny County Municipal Airport, the airport opened to a crowd of 100,000 people on Sept. 11, 1931. Architect Stanley L. Rush designed the art deco-style building.

When the airport opened, it was the country’s third largest and the region’s main airport until Greater Pittsburgh Airport opened in Moon Township in 1952.