A home for the Huey: Construction begins on museum honoring iconic helicopter

BUNKER HILL — Construction is underway on the National Huey History Museum that will be the first of its kind in the U.S. dedicated to one of the most iconic helicopters in the world.

Crews earlier this month began constructing the 34,000-square-foot building on 34 acres located along U.S. 31 just south of Indiana 218 West, which is across from Grissom Air Reserve Base.

The museum is being built and funded by American Huey 369, a local nonprofit that restores and celebrates Huey helicopters and the veterans who flew them during the Vietnam War.

John Walker, president and founder of the organization, said the main museum section of the building will include 15,000 square feet dedicated to the helicopter and its history.

That history started when the aircraft was introduced into the military in 1959. Walker said the aircraft is the only one in the world that’s been used in every branch of the U.S. military, as well as 50 overseas militaries. It’s built in four locations around the world and is still being built today.

The museum area will also include a 50-foot-tall, three-story control tower overlooking the museum that includes an elevator.

“It will be an amazing view and include the sights and sounds of an actual control tower,” Walker said.

The south end of the building will have a 6,400-square-foot living history museum, which will house the four operating Huey helicopters restored by the nonprofit that members fly during special events. The grounds will also have three helipads from which those helicopters can be flown and landed.

Another 6,400-foot section on the north side of the facility will house a restoration center for helicopter maintenance and repairs.

The grounds will also include a brick pathway running from outside through the building that will eventually include the name of the more than 58,000 Vietnam veterans killed in action. Walker said veterans’ bricks will be sectioned by state, and people can donate to have a brick engraved with one of their names.

However, when the museum will open is still up in the air. Walker said they continue to fundraise to meet their $4 million goal to fully fund the project. So far, the nonprofit has raised nearly $2.5 million.

Walker said the original plan was to have all the money raised before starting construction, but they had to accelerate the project after learning their temporary location would eventually be demolished.

Since 2008, the organization has been housed inside a hangar located at 1697 W. Hoosier Blvd. in the Grissom Aeroplex business park, which sits directly beside the runway at Grissom Air Reserve Base.

Over the years, the organization has filled the hangar with three Huey helicopters that volunteers salvaged and fully restored, along with a small museum area dedicated to the aircraft. There’s also a makeshift hootch-style hut, like the ones built for troops in Vietnam, that Walker and his wife use as an office.

In 2020, the nonprofit learned the temporary museum would eventually be torn down due to new Air Force regulations, potentially leaving them without a home to store and display their helicopters.

Jim Tidd, executive director of the Miami County Economic Development Authority, which owns the hangar in which the museum is located, said in a previous interview those new regulations mean eight buildings in the business park must all eventually be demolished.

He said the structures are located in the runway’s “clear zone.” In the past, the Air Force has allowed those buildings to stand. But new policies now require that the buildings be torn down because they’re too close to the runway.

That led Walker and his team to move forward with construction of the permanent museum without raising the full amount to ensure they had a location when demolition of the current location is eventually announced.

“It would have been easy to say, ‘Hey, we’re not going to start this thing until we have all the money raised,’” he said. “But we didn’t start with any money when we started the impossible of restoring an aircraft.”

Walker said there’s also a sense of urgency in completing the museum to ensure Vietnam veterans who served on Huey helicopters have a chance to come see their history in their lifetime.

“We’re in the business of preserving history,” he said. “ ... The museum will preserve the history of the Huey and its veterans. And there’s a lot of history to the Huey. There’s no other aircraft in the world that has this must history.”

Walker said the museum project so far has only been possible due to the huge amount of in-kind donations from partners helping construct the facility. That includes attorneys, structural engineers, architects and excavating and concrete companies. He said that once the project is finished, in-kind donations will likely total over $2 million.

But more money is needed now to ensure construction on the museum continues without delay. Walker said the fact they’ve raised $2.5 million already is a testament to the need for the project, and he has faith donors will come through to fully fund the $4 million goal.

“We’ve done the impossible for 18 years without any loans, without any state or federal help, without any millionaires coming in and dropping their checkbooks off,” he said. “We’ve done it with regular people and with in-kind donations.”