What a great idea...
Bobby, if I understand correctly, I think SAC's museum exhibit is more conventional than what Typhoon is suggesting. Theirs consists of plexiglass displays located in a hangar. I have toured SAC's connie and I appreciate the immense amount of money and effort they have expended. I think there should be many more groups like them. Typhoon's suggestion of recreating an historically accurate airline terminal for each decade would be the ultimate home to display the fruits of SAC's efforts to the public. It would literally bring history alive for kids of all ages.
What about all the unused space now at Lambert? It'd be perfect for a TWA Museum. Ideally, the SAC Connie would make rock-star-like appearances, and you could park other TWA metal on the ramp (pulled up to a jetway if appropriate) and restore the concourse to historically accurate decor for each aircraft. Have as many hands-on exhibits as possible. It should be as much a 'working' museum as possible, with working ramp personnel, gate agents, pilots, shoe shiners, newspaper stands, cafes, and gift shops. For the 70s terminal, you'd have to have at least one row of those black seats with coin-operated tvs (there's still one in operation at the Bangor, ME terminal). They could be showing documentaries with achival footage of that airport provided by local TV stations.
A movement to convince municipalities nationwide to convert vacant or abandoned terminal space into museums is long overdue. The interest generated by the unique and holistic nature of an exhibit such as this would certainly ease the financial burden of its creation.
Thanks, Typhoon for a great idea. Now it's up to all of us to take the ball and run with it.