EXHIBITS & COLLECTIONS

Minuteman Restoration

The Minuteman is a three-stage Intercontinental Ballistic Missile. Design work on the Minuteman began in the mid-1950s in response to a U.S. Air Force request for a solid fuel ICBM to replace earlier liquid fueled missiles. The first Minuteman was launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida on February 1, 1961. Successful test launches both from above ground launch pads and underground silos led to the Air Force accepting the Minuteman-I into service the following year.

The missile on display at the museum is a mockup that was originally displayed in a park in San Bernadino, California. It was transferred here in 1972. Late in 2021, the museum’s exhibits staff and volunteers began preparing the missile for repainting and to be lifted into a vertical position for display. Over the summer of 2022, contractors and staff painted the missile and then lifted it vertically and welded it onto a mount as an impressive part of the museum’s Heritage Park display.

The missile was lifted on June 3, 2022, by Mountain States Crane. JB Henderson loaned the museum a substantial amount of equipment as an in kind donation. Other vendors who worked on the initiative included Enterprise builders who dug the hole and poured the concrete foundation, and No Limit Paint and Body who painted the missile.

The museum’s very own John Boyle, Exhibition Technician, welded the lifting tabs and the entire base to the plate. The museum volunteer team included Mark Soo Hoo, Sam Finch, and Tom St. Aubin.