Moody Aviation, the aviation training arm of Chicago-based Moody Bible Institute, plans to expand its operations into a second building at Felts Field in Spokane Valley, after it finishes a $1 million remodel of a 77-year-old former Air National Guard hangar.

East Valley Construction Inc. last month began an interior renovation of the 24,000-square-foot hangar, at 5701 E. Rutter at the southwest end of the airport, to house Moody's educational program in aircraft maintenance and repair.

Moody will continue using its primary 21,600-square-foot hangar, about a third of a mile away from the old National Guard hangar, for its flight program, which trains pilots for missionary work in remote areas.

Cecil Bedford, Moody's aviation department manager, says Moody plans to offer its own airframe and power plant training for students to receive an airplane-maintenance certificate, rather than having Spokane Community College do that training under contract. He says state budget cuts made it unclear whether SCC could guarantee space in the college's aviation maintenance technology program to Moody's students in the future.

SCC has had a longtime aviation maintenance technology program at Felts Field, but plans call for moving that program eventually to the Spokane International Airport under its new SCC Inland Northwest Aerospace Technology Center. That envisioned move, Bedford says, also was a factor in the decision.

"We opted to do our own program," Bedford says. Moody Aviation trains both pilots and aviation mechanics, but the pilots in the Moody program also are trained in aircraft maintenance and repair, Bedford adds.

With the remodeled hangar, Bedford says Moody will eventually be able to handle about 60 to 70 students who will go through the Federal Aviation Administration-regulated training to become a certified aircraft mechanic. For the mechanic education, Moody expects to hire eight to 10 new employees as instructors or support staff within the next two years, he adds.

Moody now has about 60 students receiving that training through SCC's program, he says. Moody plans to offer a first section of its own aircraft-maintenance classes early next year, Bedford says, and it will take about 1 1/2 years to implement the program fully.

Bedford adds that the hangar remodeling project is being funded jointly by Moody Aviation and the building's leaseholder, Spokane Turbine Center, which has its operations in the former Air National Guard headquarters next door to the hangar and maintains both buildings. Spokane International Airport owns the property, Bedford says.

The renovation is expected to be complete by the middle of January and will include spaces for classes, labs, offices, machine shops, and washrooms. The renovation also will upgrade mechanical, electrical, and plumbing systems. Wolfe Architectural Group PS, of Spokane, designed the improvements.

Moody plans to use the entire hangar space and sublease it from the Spokane Turbine Center, which has used the hangar in recent years for aircraft storage, including some for Moody.

Spokane Turbine Center, which has six employees, trains advanced pilots in turboprop aircraft, mainly for nonprofits doing missionary or service work in developing countries, says Dennis Elrod, the operation's CEO. The center offers training with a simulator for the single engine turboprop airplane, Quest Kodiak, built by Sandpoint-based Quest Aircraft Co.

"We've been involved (in the remodel) because we're a like-minded organization with Moody," Elrod says. "A lot of my staff members are former Moody Aviation graduates. We have a lot of the same customers and backing, but we're separate organizations."

Elrod adds that his operation also wants to support keeping business at Felts Field as well as the historic character of its structures. Since the start of construction, he says, workers have been amazed at the quality of the hangar's original construction.

"We expect it to last another 60 or 70 years," Elrod says. "It's a fun project to see its history and find a way to give it new life."

A National Register of Historic Places report describes the brick building as having been the most modern hangar in the country when it was built in 1934, with motorized sliding steel doors, providing a full width opening for aircraft.

In addition to early commercial flight activity, Felts Field, under an earlier name of Parkwater Field, was the site of the region's first National Guard air unit, going back to 1924, the National Register of Historic Places report says.