New $7.7M Terminal Opens at Pangborn Memorial Airport

The Chelan Douglas Regional Port Authority cut the ribbon on its new general aviation terminal at Pangborn Memorial Airport Wednesday afternoon.

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State and local elected officials and stakeholders attended. Port of Chelan County Commissioner JC Baldwin and Port of Douglas County Commissioner Jim Huffman cut the ribbon.

READ MORE: Chelan County Seeks Input on Helion Fusion Plant

How the Pangborn Terminal Was Funded

The new terminal, originally designed as an aircraft hangar in 1956 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places, cost over $7.7 million to reconstruct. The Port contributed just over half of the cost, with just over $3.9 million. The Port received nearly $3.1 million in Federal Aviation Administration Congressionally Directed Spending funding, $500,000 from the Washington State Department of Commerce, and $250,000 from Douglas County.

Port CEO Jim Kuntz said this project is part of $55 million in investments in Pangborn Regional Airport.

"We are doing a complete rehabilitation of the runway at a cost of $20 million," Kuntz said. "We're rebuilding a bunch of T-Hangers and building some additional box hangars, that's a $6.8 million project which is currently underway."

The Port is also breaking ground on a hangar for Airlift Northwest for a project expected to cost $6.2 million to allow them to provide emergency medical services. The Port cut the ribbon on its $14 million Trades District project last week.

A Blend of History and Modern Design

Troy Bishop is the Director of Design for ALSC Architects, the main contractor of the terminal. He said the new terminal represents the past, present, and future of the Wenatchee Valley.

"It needed to be a billboard for the region, not just Wenatchee, but the greater Central Washington region," Bishop said. "I see how the building reflects Mission Ridge and all our friends at Squilchuck, when it reaches to the south and reflects all that's happening from here and all the way to Quincy and beyond, and then even to the east when it gets more rural towards Palisades and where the greatest flood ever happened, so this building reflects that."

Port Director of Aviation Trent Moyers said the new terminal looks nothing like it did when he first came to the Port 13 years ago.

"We said we had to do something about that building, and that was 13 years ago," Moyers said. "We did not envision this... I am super excited to be in this place."

Leaders Celebrate Pangborn’s Future

State representatives Alex Ybarra, Tom Dent, Mike Steele, and Andrew Engell all appeared. Chelan County Commissioners Kevin Overbay and Shon Smith attended. Douglas County Commissioners Randy Agnew, Dan Sutton, and Marc Straub also attended.