The 141st Air Refueling Wing of the Washington Air National Guard plans to renovate and expand its medical-training facility at Fairchild Air Force Base next year.


Construction costs would fall in the $1 million to $5 million range, says Lt. Col. Robert Aunan, base civil engineer.


The Guard is accepting bids on the project through Dec. 2 and expects to select a contractor shortly thereafter. Work on the project is to start around the first of the year and will take about nine months to complete.


Zeck Butler Architects PS, of Spokane, designed the improvements.


The project involves gutting and completely renovating the 7,650-square-foot building, which is in the western portion of Fairchild where the bulk of the refueling wings facilities are located, and adding about 4,000 square feet of floor space to it. The operations that building housed already have been moved to temporary quarters nearby.


Doctors, dentists, nurses, and other medical personnel who are part of the wing spend their weekends of Guard duty at the facility.


The building also houses the Guards medical-readiness operation, which handles the medical preparation necessary for sending Guard personnel into active war-time duty, Aunan says. Such preparation includes giving members physical examinations and immunizations and securing dental records and DNA tests.


Upgrading the medical-readiness operation is the main driver of the remodeling, Aunan says. This is directly due to the expanded role of the Guard, in the war with Iraq, he says.