Allentown Hangar Finally Up to Code

A new office for a St. Luke's Hospital medical helicopter crew at Jake Arner Memorial Airport in Mahoning finally meets building code requirements and can be occupied.

The flight crew has worked out of a temporary trailer since last summer and was supposed to occupy the new office three months ago. The crew will move into the new office within two weeks, said Paul Smith, chairman of the Carbon County Airport Authority.

Uniform construction code violations and disputes held up the opening of the office, which will contain computers, medical supplies, showers, cots and a kitchen for the 24-hour crew.

Smith said the contractor for St. Luke's was able to satisfy requirements of Carl Faust, township code inspector.

"We've complied with all the requirements," Smith said Wednesday. "All the work has been done, all the changes that the inspector wanted done, and he's approved them."

Smith said Faust granted permission for the crew to occupy the building. The last item the contractor must present to Faust is a site plan showing the new handicap-entrance route.

"It's just a paperwork thing," Smith said. "We're good to go."

The authority worked with St. Luke's to renovate a 1,250-square-foot space in the airport's main hangar.

But the renovations didn't meet the latest code requirements, according to Faust's report.

Numerous changes that had to be made included electrical outlets, light switches and kitchen countertops that were too high and didn't comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act; a concrete pad leading from the office to the airfield that was an eighth of an inch too steep; and handicap parking that was too far from the building.

Smith initially argued the building doesn't need to be handicap-accessible because it's not open to the public and is manned only by the flight crew. Smith said there are no physically disabled crew members.

St. Luke's loaned the authority money to renovate the space into an office, and the authority is repaying the loan by giving the flight crew reduced rent. The rent is more than $2,500 a month before the reduction.

The flight crew has operated out of a trailer at the airport since September 2006. The trailer will be removed after the crew relocates.

Smith said the crew has to move computers, furniture and a paging system into the office for operation.

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