Summary
Construction began on November 9, 1974, on a 62-by-40-foot hangar at the Beaver Island Townships Airport. The Beaver Beacon says the building was designed by Walt Wogan and Zack Gorganoff and would house “The Beaver,” the Beaver de Havilland emergency aircraft. Volunteer labor worked under airport manager Robert Gillespie; Ed and Connie Wogan pledged $4,000, with the Beaver Island Airport Fund financing the balance.
Evidence and limits
The report establishes the start of construction and the planned function of the building, but not its completion, final dimensions, ownership, or later use. The May–June issue independently records the aircraft already making two medical flights before this November construction start; it does not prove that the hangar was completed or occupied. “Hanger” is the spelling in the source headline; this record uses the standard architectural term “hangar.” The article does not establish whether Walt Wogan is the same person as the episode-qualified passenger in the 1968 Beaver Islander record.
Open questions
- Was the hangar completed, and did the emergency aircraft ever occupy it?
- What were the airport fund’s legal status, contributors, and final project cost?
- Are building plans, permits, photographs, or later airport records available?
- Are the five named participants documented elsewhere with full civil identities?
See also
- Beaver Island Airport
- Preparation of Beaver Island emergency aircraft (1974)
- The Beaver (Beaver Island emergency aircraft, 1974)
- First medical evacuation by Beaver Island emergency aircraft (1974)
- Second medical evacuation by Beaver Island emergency aircraft (1974)
- Walt Wogan (1974 emergency-aircraft hangar designer)
- Zack Gorganoff (1974 emergency-aircraft hangar designer)
- Robert Gillespie (1974 Beaver Island airport manager)
- Ed Wogan (1974 emergency-aircraft hangar donor)
- Connie Wogan (1974 emergency-aircraft hangar donor)
Sources
- Beaver Beacon, December 1974, “New Hanger.”Reports that construction began November 9 on a 62-by-40-foot building at the Beaver Island Townships Airport; names Walt Wogan and Zack Gorganoff as designers, airport manager Robert Gillespie as supervisor of volunteer labor, and Ed and Connie Wogan as $4,000 donors. The source says the Beaver Island Airport Fund would finance the balance and does not report completion.
- Beaver Beacon, May–June 1974, “Makes First ‘Evacuation’ and Then Second Within One Week.”Records the aircraft making its first two medical evacuations on June 18 and June 24, before the November hangar construction began.