Donald W. Douglas opened the Long Beach facility on the eve of World War II, having run out of production space at his plant in Santa Monica, California. Douglas placed a 1-ton globe over the Lakewood Boulevard entrance to the Long Beach plant that became a signature piece of aerospace art. The Long Beach plant was the first air-conditioned assembly plant in the United States, designed without windows so it could operate 24 hours a day during World War II blackout conditions.