The Metal Building Manufacturers Association (MBMA) has released the eighth video in its “Travels with Tony” series. This 2-minute and 45-second presentation launches with Tony Bouquot, MBMA general manager, at the Davidson Center for Space Exploration at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center® (USSRC) campus in Huntsville, Ala. The 75,932 square-foot metal building holds one of only three original Saturn V rockets in existence along with the Apollo 16 capsule, as well as a theatre, interactive learning stations and more. The video is available on MBMA’s YouTube channel, @MBMAMedia.

“A metal building system is the ideal home to this historic and innovative rocket,” notes Bouquot, who hosts the Travels with Tony series. “The building has a large clearspan with the 365-foot long Saturn V supported from the roof. Underneath, a host of fun and informative activities and displays for visitors are spread throughout. The space program, like MBMA, got its start in the 1950s. MBMA, now celebrating its 70th year, was introducing North America to revolutionary low-rise buildings while NASA was showing the way into space.”

The attractive and inviting exterior of the Davidson Center shows off the versatility of metal buildings. One side is a curtain wall encompassing glass panels drawing visitors in from near and far with views of the historic showpiece. The rest of the building is clad in energy-efficient insulated metal panels (IMPs). The building is a centerpiece of the USSRC campus, which hosts visitors from all over the world as well as current and future space travelers at its Space Camp. 

Previous videos in this series include a visit to Starshine Texas, an events facility in Houston; a look at Bay Manufacturing’s headquarters and manufacturing buildings in Green Bay, Wis.; a tour of the Hardesty Center for Dance Education in Tulsa, Okla., which showed off the Tulsa Ballet’s home; a visit to the USA BMX headquarters and track, also in Tulsa; a look at two craft breweries in Texas; a tour of the AdventHealth Sports Park at Bluhawk in Overland Park, Kan.; and a short visit to a metal building supplier in New Zealand. In addition to Travels with Tony, there are more than 30 videos available for free viewing at MBMA’s YouTube channel, www.youtube.com/@MBMAMEDIA.