INDIANOLA, Iowa — Artifacts have officially returned to the National Balloon Museum in Indianola for the first time after a fire in early 2024.

On Friday, a truck carrying 25,000 pounds of inventory arrived at the museum. It was the first of two shipments bringing artifacts back to the museum from a Michigan facility where they were cleaned and restored.

Museum officials are now finally able to see the artifacts in person and can determine which ones can go back on display.

Operations manager, Kendra Minks, said 350 items were returned in this shipment. She said she is relieved they are finally back in Indianola.

The museum doesn’t have an accurate count for how many items were destroyed in the fire because they didn’t have a sophisticated inventory system, according to Minks. This is something she is now changing.

Minks said museum officials will spend the next several months logging all of their inventory into a new database.

“We did not lose nearly as much as what could have been lost because we had more soot damage and no flames. So we didn’t have the heat damage or water damage,” she said.

Around 10 volunteers helped unload the truck on Friday, including Becky Wigeland, who is now retired but was a curator for the museum. She helped organize the exhibits before the fire.

“We really need to get them back and get this place open because so many people are interested in it, and they want to make sure that it’s still going to be a bona fide museum. And so you can never know. And there’s a lot of history and there’s a lot of things that need to be put back together,” said Wigeland.

Another truck will arrive in Indianola on Friday, October 24th, with the remaining artifacts.

The museum is looking for more volunteers to help unload the truck. To sign up as a volunteer, click here.

This comes after the museum welcomed back visitors for the first time since the fire over the summer. While the museum remains closed, it hosted the United States Ballooning Hall of Fame in July.

Minks is projecting the museum will reopen in time for the next Balloon Classic in July 2026.