A packed parking lot outside the Air Force Academy’s Barry Goldwater Visitor Center and license plates from as far away as Alaska were welcome signs Monday that the base has returned to a sense of normalcy.

The Air Force Academy and much of its sprawling 18,000-plus acres is once again open to the public after safety concerns for students and base personnel surrounding COVID-19 closed the instillation to guests in late March 2020.

The base reopened to public one week before the academic year begins and as cases of the highly transmissible delta variant of COVID-19 are increasing across much of the nation.

The visitor center was buzzing with activity as Boy Scouts from Connecticut, families from across the country and many others made their way from one display to the next while learning about the history of the base and what cadets do each year of their education.

David Miller, of Grapevine, Texas, toured the visitor center with his wife and three children.

The 1994 Air Academy High School graduate hadn’t been in decades and wanted to show it off.

“I want my kids and wife to understand more about the cadets and the history of the Air Force Academy,” Miller said.

That’s just what academy officials are hoping to hear.

“We’re excited to welcome the community back to the United States Air Force Academy,” Lt. Gen. Richard Clark, superintendent, said in a statement.

The visitor center is open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Guests must wear masks indoors per Department of Defense regulations.

Harry Lundy, director of the visitor center the past nine years, was happy to welcome guests and share what’s new at the facility.

There is an exhibit to honor Lance Sijan, a 1965 graduate who died a prisoner of war in the “Hanoi Hilton” in Vietnam. He is the only Air Force Academy graduate to receive the Medal of Honor, the highest military decoration.

Another small exhibit that will be completed this fall will celebrate the women who graduated in 1980 as members of the academy’s first female graduating class.

Doug Jenkins, a Colorado Springs resident and volunteer docent at the visitor center, brought his 9-year-old grandson Kayson Kaye to the facility on Monday.

Kaye, who has spent a fair amount of time watching jets on YouTube, decided a few years ago he wants to fly for the Air Force.

That’s music to the ears of Jenkins, a 1964 academy graduate who piloted the F-4 Phantom II during 175 missions during the Vietnam War.

“Dreams begin here sometimes, and my grandson is no exception,” Jenkins said.

A few items from the Cadet Chapel, which closed in September 2019 to begin a $158 million renovation expected to take at least four years, are on display at the visitor center, including a Holocaust Torah Scroll that Lundy said is more than 250 years old.

Guests at the visitor center can make a third of a mile walk up and over a hill to view the chapel, which is fully enclosed inside a makeshift hangar.

“I wanted to come here more than anything,” said Brian Hamann, who recently moved to Colorado Springs from Iowa.

Hamann comes from a military family and said he enjoyed seeing a statue of a B-52, which is what his grandfather dropped bombs from during World War II.

The Cadet Chapel, Planetarium and Harmon Hall parking lot remain closed.

Visitors can also enjoy the food court, outdoor trails, stables, the golf course and watching cadets fly gliders or skydive.

The athletic ticket office, located at the Cadet Field House, is open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. and can be reached at (719) 472-1895. The first intercollegiate event is Aug. 14 when the Falcons play the University of Colorado in a women’s soccer game.

The first home football game of the season against the Lafayette Leopards at noon on Sept. 4 could be played in front of a full stadium.

The academy continually monitors risks related to the pandemic and will make changes as needed.