HILL AIR FORCE BASE — The Hill Aerospace Museum is looking for additional volunteers to help enhance the experience of a brand-new addition that is set to open to the public in the new year.

Aircraft began moving into the L.S. Skaggs Gallery last month. The addition itself is slated to open next spring.

Philip Butler, volunteer program manager at the museum, told the Standard-Examiner that construction on the new 80,000-square-foot-plus gallery began about a year ago and is expected to open to the public in late-April or May 2024.

“It’s pretty close to doubling the amount of exhibit space that we currently have in the museum,” he said. “What we’ve been able to do is rearrange our collection to better tell the Hill Air Force Base story, but it also allows us to move some of the aircraft that have been outdoors for decades … inside to protect them from the weather.”

As the museum prepares this new asset for the public, he said they are looking for several new faces to help with serving guests.

“There’s a few things with getting volunteers that may surprise some folks,” he said. “No. 1, there’s no experience necessary. I’m not looking for history experts. I’m not looking for airplane experts. I have plenty of those — but if you are, that’s great and come on aboard. But mostly I just need people to be nice — greet the guests, show them where the restrooms are and also the gift shop. Be polite and kind of augment the experience for the guests.”

He said they are looking for around 25-30 additional people over the age of 18 able to commit to at least one four-hour shift per week.

Butler said there’s already been people showing interest.

“That new building has generated some interest in the community,” he said. “I’m getting a lot of walk-in applications — folks that just swing by the museum and want to be involved because they see the new construction and it gets them excited to participate.”

Helping with the effort is Weber Human Services, specifically the Retired Senior Volunteer Program, or RSVP.

Jan Gardner, the agency’s volunteer recruiting specialist who helps coordinate RSVP, told the Standard-Examiner that they are helping get the word out about volunteer opportunities at the museum.

“We are primarily looking for (people) 55 and older to go out and volunteer,” she said. “There’s different volunteering positions they can do, whether it be greeting, information, working at the gift store. They’re looking for maintenance crews, people talking about the history of the aircraft and the history of the Air Force.”

Butler said that the new gallery, along with additional volunteers to help it come alive, will help better tell the base’s story.

“The history of Hill Air Force Base is very complex,” he said. “It surprises a lot of people what goes on on the base that we talk about here at the museum — all of the maintenance and logistics — and I think it’s a good opportunity to put out some artifacts and aircraft that help tell a more diverse story of Hill Air Force Base.”

Anyone interested in volunteering is encouraged to go online to aerospaceutah.org, visit the Hill Aerospace Museum in person or call Butler at 801-777-2468,

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