Helicopter museum to move to building set for construction

BUNKER HILL, Ind. (AP) - A museum devoted to the Huey helicopters that transported U.S. troops during the Vietnam war will be housed in a new building set for construction in north-central Indiana.

The National American Huey History Museum will be on a 22-acre (8.9-hectare) site along U.S. 31, across from the Grissom Air Reserve Base in Bunker Hill, according to John Walker, president and founder of the nonprofit American Huey 369 Inc.

Work is expected to begin next spring on the 30,000-square-foot (2,787-square-meter) building which will include a repair hangar.

Construction is happening much sooner after the nonprofit learned earlier this year that their temporary museum would eventually be torn down due to new Air Force regulations, according to the Kokomo Tribune.

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

Although the nonprofit is moving ahead with constructing the new museum building, when it might actually open to the public is still a question mark.

Walker said the plan is to get the building up next year so they have a place to move their operational helicopters, and then continue to fund-raise to complete the project.