Thanks to a military training program that launched in May, two national aerospace companies could be coming to northern Maine.
Operation Northern Phoenix used the former Loring Air Force Base’s runways for the first run of its five-year aviation training effort. Word of that event spread in aviation circles, and the businesses reached out to the Loring Commerce Centre.
The Loring Development Authority works to attract business, housing and jobs to Loring’s 3,800 acres. Occupants have included Brunswick-based Green 4 Maine and, most recently, the Taste of Maine Potato Chip Co. The two aviation companies, whose names the authority is not yet releasing, would boost the authority’s plan to bring more aerospace jobs onto the former base. They would also ensure a future for its airport infrastructure, including its famed arch hangar.
“Due to the added attention that Operation Northern Phoenix has brought to Loring, there are two national aerospace companies that are looking at Loring as a potential home for their operations,” LDA President and CEO Jonathan Judkins said. “One of them would use the arch hangar, and the other would use the former tactical alert hangar.”
Northern Phoenix is a collaboration of the U.S. Air Force and New Hampshire Air National Guard, Judkins said. This year, multiple C-130 aircraft used the runways for test runs in a program that will grow over the next four years to include Black Hawk helicopters and possibly B-52s.
Next year’s training is slated in June. The events will see the addition of a mobile tower and lighting system to the runway that will remain at Loring, he said. When the five years is up, the Air Force will decide whether to continue training on-site.
Besides the return of a military mission, the training acquainted many more people with Loring, Judkins said. As a result, the commerce center has drawn interest from both public and private entities, which could bring good news on the job-creation front.
“For Loring, the most important thing about this is the jobs they will bring. That’s the LDA’s primary goal, creating jobs in Aroostook,” he said.
In the last couple of years, the authority has announced plans for a quantum research facility and a $4 billion sustainable aviation fuel production plant. Combined, they are projected to add more than 2,000 construction jobs and nearly 700 production jobs.
If the two aerospace companies decide to move in, it’s unclear how many jobs they would bring, but reuse of the base’s existing infrastructure also means that taxpayer assets will be preserved, rather than left to deteriorate, Judkins said.
Built in the late 1940s, the historic arch hangar is one of only two of its kind, according to Maine author Arend Thibodeau. The double-cantilever structure was designed to house the B-36 Peacemaker.
The Loring Air Museum and the LDA last year were at odds over the hangar’s future. The museum wanted it preserved as a historical artifact, while developers said it should be used for aerospace development.
While some have said the hangar is crumbling, Judkins said it is in reasonable shape. It has a new heating system and working electricity. Renovations would be mainly cosmetic, such as cleaning, painting, repairing doors and refinishing the roof.
The concrete roof has an insulation layer topped off with a membrane, he said. The membrane is peeling and there is a hole in the insulation, but the concrete is intact. The LDA plans to adhere a waterproof resin to the concrete and insulate inside the building.
Little used since the base closed in 1994, Loring’s airport has seen a flurry of activity in recent months.
Last fall, the Federal Aviation Administration reclassified Loring as a public airport. The Department of Defense also granted the LDA a $1 million Defense Community Infrastructure Program grant. The authority will use $750,000 of that to create an airport master plan, Judkins said. The remainder will pay for an electrical assessment and planning for grid stability in case of a catastrophic event.
The authority is also pursuing acceptance into the Federal Aviation Administration’s National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems, he said. That would make Loring part of the Military Airport Program, which could bring funds to improve other infrastructure and add additional aircraft hangars.
Judkins maintained that Loring’s greatest value has always been in its layout — the miles of paved, business-ready runway and ground.
“You can build any business you want on that runway,” he said. “You’re only limited by what you can imagine.”
