When completed, the $15 million Aviation Education Hangar will replace cramped, make-shift classrooms currently shoehorned into one of the airport’s hangars.
The Aviation Education Hangar will provide a dynamic learning environment for students pursuing careers in aviation maintenance, engineering, private pilot training, and unmanned aircraft systems.
Credit: Nick Graham
Credit: Nick Graham
And the 28,000-square-foot hangar, located at 2301 Wedekind Drive in the northern portion of the airport, will offer specialized programs designed to meet the growing demand for skilled professionals in the aviation industry.
Butler Tech and other officials credited the financial partnership linking Butler County and other economic development organizations in southwest Ohio for making the new school a reality.
“The Butler County Commissioners were the first to step up and provide financial support for our vision of aviation education in this region,” said Jon Graft, superintendent and CEO for Butler Tech.
The career school system, which serves Butler County districts and Northwest Schools in northern Hamilton County, is in a partnership with the Butler County Commissioners, who invested $7 million — along with financial backers at the city of Middletown, JobsOhio and REDI (Regional Economic Development Initiative) of Cincinnati.
Credit: Nick Graham
Credit: Nick Graham
“We are honored that so many more partners have followed their lead, supporting our efforts by giving their time, offering their talent, and providing financial backing,” said Graft, whose school system is funding $6.5 million.
Middletown’s centralized location in southwest Ohio — within easy distance from Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky’s CVG International Airport, Dayton International Airport and Wright-Patterson Air Force Base — provides an ideal site for local high school students learning careers in aviation, said school officials.
Middletown Mayor Elizabeth Slamka told the crowd of more 130 “our young people are going to see this beautiful aviation school and know this (aviation) career pathway is achievable for them.”
Credit: Nick Graham
Credit: Nick Graham
“We cannot overstate the importance of the Butler Tech aviation school at the Middletown Airport as a local and regional asset of innovation,” said Slamka.
Butler Tech, which serves more than 18,000 high school and adult students, learned this summer its aviation career program has recently won Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) approval for Air Frame and Power certification for its students, “further solidifying Butler Tech’s impact in providing top-tier aviation education and training to students in the local area,” said school officials.
Also attending the new school’s groundbreaking was Butler Tech aviation student Evan Malay, who also attends Lakota East High School and will be part of the first class to learn in the new school hangar.
“I’m pretty excited because it’ll be really good when we move into the new building with more experiences and opportunities,” said Malay.
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