Hill Aerospace Museum earns Trip Advisor Hall of Fame award

  • Published
  • By Richard W. Essary
  • 75th Air Base Wing Public Affairs
For years, the Hill Aerospace Museum has been a “must-see" attraction in northern Utah. More than 265,000 visitors a year tour the museum’s airpark and indoor galleries spanning 30-acres.

Now, one of the largest travel sites on the web is saying the same.

The website Trip Advisor, a site dedicated to travel-related content and visitor reviews, recognized the Hill Aerospace Museum this month with its Hall of Fame award for receiving the site's Certificate of Excellence five years in a row.

The site issues the certificates to establishments based on continued excellence in hospitality and people who provided reviews on Trip Advisor ranked the Hill Aerospace Museum as the number one place to visit in the region.

Aaron Clark, the museum's director, said he’s elated to receive the recognition and credited the museum’s professional staff for staying focused on customer service, its collection and exhibits, care of the museum grounds and facility, and encouraging community involvement.

“We have and will continue to listen to our customers,” Clark said.

Since becoming the museum director in 2013, the museum has shifted to developing engaging exhibits that show the rich history of Hill Air Force Base and Utah aviation.

Clark said the museum’s grounds, facility and collection are cared for by dedicated staff and volunteers. In addition, the Aerospace Heritage Foundation of Utah is a private, non-profit organization that provides capital support for the museum.

“We have federal employees, volunteers, and a foundation all working together. This award is a direct testament to their selfless efforts,” Clark said. “Museums are about community, and we have and will continue to involve numerous community members in our operations.”

Recognition aside, Clark said the museum isn’t finished with making improvements.

The museum is nearing completion of an interactive “C-130 experience” classroom where visitors will be able to climb into the cockpit and learn more about the long and diverse history of the aircraft. The exhibit will also be used as a classroom where the museum will offer programs focused on STEM (science, technology, engineering and math.)

Other recent additions to the museum include a new Utah Aviation Hall of Fame, a display dedicated to Hill’s namesake Maj. Ployer B. Hill, an F-16 Thunderbird static display, and an aerospace education center with four classrooms.

Clark said the Aerospace Heritage Foundation of Utah is continually fundraising for new exhibits and programs. Plans are underway for construction of a third gallery that will house all the aircraft currently on display outside the museum.

The museum is open from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday-Saturday. Admission is free. Visit http://aerospaceutah.org for more information.

(No federal endorsement of the commercial website mentioned in this article is intended.)