'It's kind of like getting ready for the Super Bowl': NAS museums get ready for public

The general mood for curators at NAS Pensacola's on-base museums this week has been one of excitement.

Staff at the National Naval Aviation Museum and Pensacola Lighthouse & Maritime Museum have spent their days busily preparing, prepping exhibits and eagerly awaiting Saturday.

That's when NAS Pensacola will allow one day of public access to the two museums for the first time since the terrorist attack in December 2019.

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The event will act as trial run, allowing U.S. Navy personnel to test the base's security measures and protocols in anticipation of holding this year's Blue Angels Homecoming Air Show at its traditional location back on the base.

"I never want to say it's 100 percent when it comes to the air show, given what the last couple of years have proven," said NAS Pensacola spokesman Jason Bortz. "But we are planning the show and making all the arrangements, and unless something major happens, it will be on base in the fall."

The one-time public access Saturday was selected to commemorate the anniversary of the World War II Battle of Midway that occurred from June 4-7, 1942.

"In addition to this event, we are preparing for our air show in November," Bortz said. "It does give our security a little bit of a chance to be used to large crowds coming on base, because we haven't done an air show on base for a couple of years either. It's an opportunity to get our security refreshed and ready for the air show that is coming up as well."

Since the attack, access to base — as well as to the two museums, Fort Barrancas and Blue Angels practices — has been restricted to only Department of Defense cardholders and veterans who possess a Veterans Health Identification Card.

Before the terrorist attack and pandemic, the National Naval Aviation Museum was the largest single tourist attraction west of Orlando and east of New Orleans on the Gulf Coast, according to the museum's director, retired U.S. Navy Capt. Sterling Gilliam.

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"To be clear, once we came out of COVID in September of 2020, we've been open ever since that time," Gilliam said. "But our visitations have been reduced significantly because our only patrons were active-duty, retired and dependent military and their guests."

Approximately 724,000 people visited the museum in 2019. Only 198,000 toured the aviation museum in 2021.

The public is expected to be back in large numbers Saturday as they take advantage of the events and activities in honor of the 80th anniversary of the Battle of Midway, with access to NAS Pensacola from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Visitors will be required to enter the base through its West Gate at 1878 South Blue Angel Parkway.

All guests 18 and older will be required to have a valid photo ID, such as a driver's license or passport.

"Everybody is pretty amped up," Jon Hill, executive director of the Pensacola Lighthouse & Maritime Museum, said about his curators and staff.

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"It's kind of like getting ready for the Super Bowl," Hill added. "This used to be a day-to-day thing for us and to have people back and to really appreciate what we're here to see ... the lighthouse, their museum, their artifacts and their history, we're here to give that back to them."

Guest will also have a chance to get a sneak peak of the lighthouse museum's upcoming exhibit called "Heart's Hammock" between noon and 1 p.m. Saturday when design plans will be presented by museum staff and Pensacola City Councilwoman Teniadé Broughton.

"It's going to be an interpretive park, talking about prominent African Americans from the historic maritime perspective," Hill said. "We'll be doing a preview of what that new interpretive portion of our site is going to be, and it's dedicated to the African Americans who served at the lighthouse and lived here basically through reconstruction."

Lighthouse staff are not the only ones excited to get the public back through their doors. A Saturday festival at the aviation museum will include performances by the Blue Anchor Belles, scavenger hunts, a "Flight Adventure Deck" experience, food truck vendors, National Flight Academy tours, prize drawings and more.

"There will be specials on movies. You know, $5 movies," Gillum said. "And we are having events in and out of the atrium."

Colin Warren-Hicks can be reached at colinwarrenhicks@pnj.com or 850-435-8680.

This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: NAS Pensacola museums give public access for first time since 2019