Date: July 7, 1984
Location: St. Louis, MO
By: —
Newspaper: St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Page: 3A
Wings of Hope Inc., an organization that flies mercy missions throughout the world, has announced plans to build a central base at the Spirit of St. Louis Airport in Chesterfield.
Joseph G. Fabick, president of Wings of Hope, said the group planned to build a 6,000-square-foot hangar with offices, shops, meeting rooms and storage areas at the airport, which is owned by the county. The group will lease a 1.4-acre site at the airport for $5,000 a year, pending approval by the St. Louis County Council.
The organization repairs and modifies airplanes to serve remote corners of the world that lack improved airstrips. Wings of Hope was founded in 1962 by a group of St. Louis area residents to provide air transportation and radio communication equipment to needy people throughout the world. The missions involve both medical rescues and disaster evacuations.
The group’s offices are at 2319 Hampton Avenue.
Construction of the hangar is expected to begin this summer and should be completed by the end of the year, Fabick said.
County Executive Gene McNary said Friday that it was “fitting that the citizens of St. Louis County will be assisting indirectly in meeting human needs in distant parts of the world.”
The construction is part of a general improvement program at the airport, county officials said.