Tinker expresses interest in closed GM plant.
Service expresses interest in closed GM plant - Military News, Air Force News, opinions, editorials, news from Iraq, photos, reports - Air Force Times
OKLAHOMA CITY — The General Motors Assembly Plant, shuttered for more than a year, has caught the eye of the U.S. Air Force, which is exploring ways that the 3.8-million-square-foot facility might by used by the adjacent Tinker Air Force Base, officials said Friday.
Roy Williams, president and chief executive officer of the Oklahoma City Chamber of Commerce, said Air Force officials and administrators at Tinker have been studying possible new missions and military uses for the mammoth structure.
“Naturally, because it abuts Tinker, Tinker inquired about it,” Williams said.
In a visit to Oklahoma City last month, Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne met with Gov. Brad Henry to discuss the future of the vacant assembly plant, authorities said. No money has been appropriated by Congress to buy the plant and its conversion to a military facility might involve the state, Williams said.
“They are all discussing this,” Williams said. “We’re enthused and excited about this opportunity. We think it’s very serious.”
The plant’s price tag has not been disclosed, Williams said. A spokeswoman for GM in Detroit, Janine Fruehan, did not immediately return a call from The Associated Press seeking comment.
Tinker, home of the Oklahoma City Air Logistics Center and the primary maintenance center for a wide range of bomber and fighter aircraft, employs about 24,000 people and is already the state’s largest single site employer.
The GM plant produced extended versions of Chevrolet TrailBlazers and GMC Envoys before it closed in February 2006 after 27 years. It’s surrounded by paved acreage that can accommodate up to 3,000 vehicles, Williams said.
GM shut down production in a cost-cutting move, the first of 12 facilities the company planned to shutter by 2008 as it struggled to survive and bring production in line with market demand.
The Oklahoma City plant employed 2,400 people.
Williams said GM was contractually prohibited from disposing of the plant for two years after announcing it would be closed, a period that will expire in September. GM has previously said it would not sell the plant to a competing auto manufacturer, he said.
“All of a sudden, the uses of it become pretty narrow,” Williams said.
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