Jet painters’ hangar coming along

Associated Painters, one of Spokane International Airport’s major new tenants, is about half done building its new aircraft painting hangar. The Everett-based firm is building the 41,000-square-foot airplane painting facility on airport land on the south end of the airfield.

Projected to cost about $5 million, the building and surrounding apron are expected to be open by October of this year. When finished, about 40 workers will handle repainting commercial aircraft brought to the facility.

The company does work for major airlines and for corporate air fleets. One well-known example of the company’s work is the Alaska Airlines “Salmon Thirty Salmon” aircraft, which has a salmon painted from nose to tail.

Garco Construction, based in Spokane, is in charge of the work project. The architect for the building is Seattle-based Harris Group. Steel for the frame of the building was made by Elk-based O’Neill Steel Fabrication.

Musselman moving

to Liberty Lake

Musselman Rentals & Sales, an independent heavy equipment dealer based in Lewiston, will build a new shop in Liberty Lake and move from its location of 15 years off Freya in Spokane.

The 23,000-square-foot building will go in at 24201 E. Knox Lane, along I-90 and just east of Mario & Son Marble & Granite. The city of Liberty Lake has issued the project a building permit with a value of $1.46 million.

The facility will house rental and sales staff as well as service technicians in eight bays for the repair, maintenance and washing of Musselman’s Caterpillar equipment fleet.

Construction is expected to be completed in January. Edwards Smith Construction LLC and Architects West Inc., both of Coeur d’Alene, teamed up for the project.

In the economic downturn, more contractors are renting equipment, and rental activity for Musselman’s 135 larger earth-moving machines has remained strong, General Manager Eddie Davis said.

The new location offers convenient freeway access, a centralized pick-up and drop-off location for rental customers in the region, and I-90 exposure for equipment display promoting sales, the company said.

Equipment setup and repairs will continue at Musselman’s seven-acre complex and headquarters in Lewiston.

Esterline marks growth

Esterline Advance Input Systems is hosting an open house Wednesday to mark the expansion of its Coeur d’Alene headquarters.

The expansion, at 600 W. Wilbur, will add 50,000 square feet of office and manufacturing space, bringing the total at the company to about 139,000 square feet.

Architect is John Eixenberger, of Coeur d’Alene.

The open house is from 3 to 4:30 p.m. Reserve a spot through the site at Advancedinput.com.

The company designs and manufactures custom input devices, ranging from specialized medical keyboards to multiple-button keypads for videogames. Its Coeur d’Alene workforce numbers about 350.

Dental office planned

Dr. Kenneth Collins, a South Hill dentist, has sold a Spokane city lot at 29th Avenue and Ray Street to Dr. Jay Enzler, another area dentist.

The 17,419-square-foot lot at 2704 S. Ray St. sold for $265,000. Enzler intends to build a dental office in several years, said NAI Black broker Earl Engle.