New Othello hangar finished

OTHELLO — It took a little while longer than anyone expected, but the new, 10-bay airplane hangar at the Othello Municipal Airport is finally open for business.

“I think it’s a nice building, it’s well constructed, it’s going to be here for lots and lots of years,” said Chris Faix, executive director of the Port of Othello.

The roughly $1.2 million hangar — which also includes the cost of concrete driveways and a new taxiway mandated by the Federal Aviation Administration — is the first new hangar building constructed at the Othello Municipal Airport, 5 miles southeast of Othello and 1 mile south of state Route 26 on Billington Road, since the 1970s, according to Port of Othello Commissioner Gary Weaver. The port owns the airport.

Weaver noted each of the 10 T-shaped hangars in the new building are 42 feet wide, 30 feet deep, with automatic lights and a motorized door controlled remotely.

“So you can fly over, push your button, and by the time you’re on the ground, your door is open,” Weaver said.

In addition, the hangar building has two storage rooms.

“It’s the highest tech you’re going to find right now,” the commissioner added. “It’s state of the art.”

The doors, however, were the subject of dispute between Weaver and his fellow commissioners Deena Vietzke and Kenny Schutte. Weaver was concerned the new hangar was built without the type of automatic door specified in the contract. Given they could not come to an agreement about the dispute, the commissioners have decided to accept the building as is.

“We’re pretty excited about it,” Weaver said.

“This is a big thing for Othello,” said Craig Andrews, a pilot who is just moving into one of the new hangar bays.

Faix said six of the hangar bays are still available to rent at a price of $300 per month — $3,600 per year — and anyone interested can move in immediately.

“We’re going to have happy pilots for a lot of years to come,” Faix said.