Hutchinson ? Supporters think a proposed Kansas Underground Salt Museum will draw more than 150,000 visitors a year.

“This project is a joy to work on,” said Jay Smith, director of the Reno County Museum.

The museum recently received a federal $283,500 construction grant, and supporters have raised half of the $7.8 million needed to build the museum. Computerized plans for the museum were unveiled Wednesday.

The mines once were a big tourist draw.

From the 1920s until 1965, thousands of Kansas schoolchildren toured the salt mines each year. Public visits to the mines were halted by the Mine Safety & Health Administration.

The museum will occupy the equivalent of more than three football fields of space below ground; an above-ground visitor center will provide orientation.

Visitors will be required to wear helmets and will be able to tour galleries, theaters and historical and geological exhibits.

They won’t be allowed in the production area of the mines, but they still will experience the look, sound and feel of a working salt mine.

Smith said salt mining remained a vital part of the area’s economy. Each year, more than 300,000 tons of rock salt is mined from the 67 miles of caverns under Hutchinson.

Underground salt mining began in the area in the late 1880s. By 1910, more than 26 mining companies were operating. Most of them were consolidated into larger companies, including Morton Salt, Barton Salt, Carey Salt and the Hutchinson-Kansas Salt Co.

Anne Dowell, left, director of development for the Kansas Underground Salt Museum, and Lee Spence, president of Underground Vaults and Storage in Hutchinson, stand near what will be the entrance of the future museum, 650 feet below the ground in an undeveloped area of the salt mines in Hutchinson. The underground museum will show the history of the ancient salt deposits and how salt became a major industry in the Hutchinson area. Developers hope the unique museum will become one of the major tourist attractions in Kansas when it opens in about two years.