CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A $25.6 million dollar project is transforming a 73-year-old aircraft hanger into a new, cutting-edge facility.
Members of the 130th Airlift Wing at the McLaughlin Air National Guard Base in Charleston unveiled a newly-renovated building Thursday, Building 107, which was first completed in 1951 and was originally home to the Wing’s first F-51D Mustangs. 
It now houses a state-of-the-art Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron, a deployment processing facility, a small air terminal and a new and improved physical fitness center.
Commander of the 130th Airlift Wing Colonel Bryan Preece said the facility is a vital part of operations at the 130th Airlift Wing and these renovations have been crucial.
“It’s important because it maintains the heritage and the maintenance of the 130th Airlift Wing from our maintenance crew, and it also allows us to continue to serve our state and our nation in a new way with our air meds, our small air terminal and our fitness center,” said Preece.
Present at Thursday’s unveiling ceremony for the facility, state of West Virginia Adjutant General Major Gen. Bill Crane said he was glad to see this important project get completed after all of the work it takes in getting it off the ground.
“It feels great, you know, the team here, they bring a lot of stuff forward to us and it’s my job to go out and get the resources, that’s where I work with the governor and our CODEL in Washington D.C.to bring the funds that are required to make sure this thing can come to fruition,” said Crane.
Renovations on the facility originally began in 2011 for the Air Medical Squadron and they most recently picked back up last year which included the addition of the air terminal.
Preece said these upgrades extend the life of the building.
“We have a lot of history and heritage in this facility and we wanted to keep it open, because the Air Force will demolish facilities if they’re not in use, so we repurposed it,” he said.
He said this project has opened up a lot of opportunities for them.
“The remodeling job was excellent, they have really nice facilities, they have a nice access to the ramp, it’s much more functional, and we have a square footage limitation so it’s going to allow us to eventually demolish the other hanger and build a new squadron operations facility, so it’s continued progress for the future and the relevance of the 130th,” said Preece.
The Air Medics Squadron is crucial as they are essentially emergency first-responders for the Air Guard, made up of air medics and nurses who provide critical care to troops in war time.
Bill Crane
Crane said projects like this help to ensure service members can be better trained and equipped to handle any situation by having such modern facilities.
“We’ve got to make sure they’re ready, and you know, that is the most important job he has and I have to make sure that we’ve done everything we can to ensure they’re trained and ready to take the fight to the enemy if and when they decide they are ready to fight with us.”