Norton Regional Events Center takes off at San Bernardino International Airport

Jan. 11--SAN BERNARDINO -- Staff at San Bernardino International Airport are settling into their new digs at the corner of Third Street and Del Rosa Drive.

They left a 5,100-square-foot office building in December for a 28,000-square-foot facility that is also home to a new public meeting space and several offices for nonprofits.

"I see in my own vision a lot of public use," said interim executive director A.J. Wilson.

Indeed, what once was a non-commissioned officers club for the former Norton Air Force Base has been rechristened as the Norton Regional Events Center.

The center contains an auditorium and conference rooms, with the expectation that it can accommodate large meetings and simultaneous events.

In fact, board meetings of the San Bernardino International Airport Authority and Inland Valley Development Agency will move from Council Chambers in Loma Linda to the center's 100 seat auditorium.

Wilson said the center's location will also allow for corporate meetings of business executives who can arrive by charter to the airport.

Future plans are for a Norton Air Force Base museum.

Wilson said the airport is working with the San Bernardino Historical and Pioneer Society and other groups on preliminary plans that would see the space filled with artifacts from the Norton era.

Outside the museum, there could be part of a rare C-141 cargo aircraft, which members of a veterans group have wanted to see for some time.

The last of the C-141s at Norton were reassigned in 1993.

The old office building vacated by staff will be leased to private businesses, Wilson said.

Groups interested in using space at the center should contact the airport at 909-382-4100.

Reach Josh via email, call him at 909-386-3885, or find him on Twitter @SBcityNow.

Copyright 2012 - San Bernardino County Sun, Calif.