LIMESTONE, Maine — Improvements and repairs to buildings at the former Loring Air Force base in Limestone continue in preparation for an as yet unidentified aviation firm expected to start operations here this winter.
Due to a regulatory process that involves obtaining Federal Aviation Administration certification on the former base, details such as the name of the company and specific nature of an agreement first announced in June, will not be revealed until the company officially begins operations this winter, according to Carl Flora, president and CEO of the Loring Development Authority.
“We continue with efforts to solidify arrangements with an aviation company that would occupy Loring facilities for a maintenance, repair and overhaul center,” Flora reported to LDA board members on Wednesday.
Since the company “will be focused on large aircraft,” he said it was important to get the Arch Hangar in particular ready. The hangar will be the “central facility” for the aviation repair firm and it needs to be in “serviceable condition” when the company arrives at the Loring Commerce Centre, he said.
“The building has never been completely heated since the Air Force was here,” Flora said. “We did install two very large boilers to heat the hangar floor, but other than a test fire, we’ve never used them.”
Flora referred to the task of getting the boilers in operating condition as a “moving target” as he is still unsure how much of the heating system will be usable and how much will need to be replaced, adding that “we’re focused on taking care of that.”
In addition, workers are making roof repairs, Flora said.
The LDA president, in a memorandum for the meeting, wrote that “there are issues with the flat section of the roof. We have identified the areas directly over the existing heating systems, including the mechanical and electrical rooms on both sides of the hangar, for roof repairs. This is underway now.”
The Arch Hangar, according to Flora, is a “critical” part of the project. Additionally, the as yet unnamed aviation firm will occupy the jet engine shop when employees start arriving this winter. Flora said the firm eventually will occupy the “base ops building, the snow barn, and the alert hangar.”
Earlier this year, the state Legislature approved a funding bill to provide Loring with $750,000 for this fiscal year and an additional $750,000 for the next fiscal year. Flora said the money would be used for a “variety of things, all related to putting aviation assets back into service.”
