Construction of the Port Townsend Aero Museum’s new $1.5 million expansion is well underway.

The addition is set to be finished by fall. 

The expansion, built onto the museum’s main building, will allow for the display of another 14 historic airplanes. The project will add 5,400 square feet to the museum,  about one-third of the museum’s current size. 

“It was almost two years before we could break ground,” said Michael Payne, director of the Port Townsend Aero Museum. “The vision grew over time.”

Grant Steel Buildings and Leavitt Trucking & Excavating are building the project, and the expansion will bring high-efficiency propane boilers and large new windows to the extended section.

The museum averages around 125 guests per week, with Saturday and Sunday being the busiest days. 

Payne believes that the new add-on could increase the visitor count by “10 to 15 percent.”

That said, Payne was critical about the lack of transportation infrastructure to bring tourists to the museum, considering the roughly 5-mile distance from downtown Port Townsend.

“People have to know about us,” Payne said, in order to find the museum. 

Many of the aircraft that will decorate the expanded section will come from the Skagit Aero Education Museum in Concrete. The Skagit museum closed a few years ago after the facility’s owner, Harold Hanson, passed away in 2010.

The Port Townsend Aero Museum is a “continuation of what Harold Hanson wanted to achieve up in Concrete,” Payne said.

The addition will be dedicated to Harold Hanson as well as Gerald Thoutte, the Port Townsend Aero Museum’s founder who passed away in January 2021.

The new planes coming to the expansion include a Cessna 140, Stinson SR-9, and an Ercoupe 415-C. 

“Almost every plane on the floor is airworthy,” Payne said. 

Payne keeps the planes well-maintained with help from Kevin Vogel, his shop manager, as well as the museum’s Youth Mentorship Program. The Youth Mentorship Program gives teens from 13 to 17 the opportunity to learn how to repair and maintain airplanes, and even earn their private pilot’s license while practicing with volunteer adult flight instructors. 

“The youth program makes this place unique,” Payne said. “We’re working with kids doing hands-on things.” 

Kids in the program volunteer one day a week, typically on the weekends. Payne limits the program size to 17, and entry into the program is competitive, with a long waitlist and limited spots available.

For managing the kids,“there’s only me and Kevin Vogel,” Payne said, explaining the small size of the Youth Mentorship Program.

Many of the mentorship program alumni have found success beyond the program. 

Former member Luke Jensen graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology  with a doctorate in philosophy in aeronautical and astronautical engineering. Another member, Maria Morrison, is a current student at Duke University, and intends to study law. Miguel Salguero, another former member, graduated from California Polytechnic State University with a bachelor’s degree in Aerospace Engineering.

“Every one of these kids, they take away positive aspects through the mentorship program,” Payne said.

An opening event for the expansion is “to be determined,” he added.

For more information on the Port Townsend Aero Museum, go to ptaeromuseum.com.