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Old hangar to go

Building on airport grounds to be demolished
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An old building on the airport grounds will soon be demolished. It is too close to the runway and is falling apart. (Marisca Bakker photo)

An old hangar at the Smithers Regional Airport will soon be taken down.

At the Feb. 28 meeting of council, councillors approved the disposition of the former Apex Diamond Drilling hangar located at 6315 Mattern Street by way of demolition.

The hangar was built in the late 1960s or early 1970s. In a staff report to council, airport manager Rob Blackburn said the building has reached the end of its useful life.

It had been used as a base by drilling companies, expediters, and fuel agents. He said that several significant issues plague the structure. The roof is damaged and leaks and continuous moisture has ruined the insulation resulting in mould in the offices. Many aspects of the structure need significant repairs and the overall condition of the structure is rated as poor.

Also, the building is situated too close to the airport’s taxiway B and prohibits any parking or access to the structure without causing wing tip issues to the active taxiway.

Blackburn added the property where this building sits has been designated as prime airside access. In order to market the property to a new tenant that would utilize the airside, this building needs to be demolished.

It is cost-prohibitive to make the building usable again and the problems associated with being too close to the taxiway would remain. Also, he noted due to its age and structural issues, it is not feasible to relocate the building.

“We’ve had the building tested for asbestos,” he updated council. “And there’s some good news and some bad news. The areas that we thought would have asbestos do not. But there is some asbestos in the drywall compounds that were used on the walls. Our plan is to move forward and do some further testing to minimize the area that has to be remediated. And we’re working through some quotes on the actual demolition.”

READ MORE: Smithers airport receives $505,000 in COVID-relief funding


@MariscaDekkema
marisca.bakker@interior-news.com

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Marisca Bakker

About the Author: Marisca Bakker

Marisca was born and raised in Ontario and moved to Smithers almost ten years ago on a one-year contract.
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