It's the culmination of years of work, according to UND President Andrew Armacost. He said the university was already in talks to establish the new center when he arrived at the university in 2020.
"This premier building that will go up in this space is what our premier aviation program and our flight programs need and deserve," he said Wednesday. "Today represents an important turning point to offer our students and our staff, our faculty members this space, our new flight ops center and dispatch center."
Leaders from UND, the city of Grand Forks, the Grand Forks International Airport and other aviation supporters attended a groundbreaking and luncheon for the 28,000 square-foot, $36 million center on Wednesday. Construction will officially begin in June and is expected to take 18 months to finish.
The new center will update obsolete technology and expand the overcrowded space of the current center, said Robert Kraus, dean of the John D. Odegard School of Aerospace Sciences. It will feature a new dispatch center, book store, private debriefing spaces and a 16,000 square-foot event space. Airplane parking and the actual airplane site won't be affected by construction, Kraus said, but one hangar will be going down and dispatch will be moved to an administrative building during the work.
Kraus thanked a litany of people in attendance, all gathered in the main hangar of the center for the event. The large door to the hangar was open, making aircraft flying nearby the backdrop for the celebration. There were also several aircraft stationed right outside the hangar, most painted with UND's signature green.
Amongst those Kraus thanked were the top three donors for the project — the Seymour Robin Foundation, James C. Ray Foundation and Clay Lacy. Seymour "Si" Robin and Lacy were both in attendance, as well as Chuck Ahearn and Patti Arthur from the James C. Ray Foundation. Kraus also thanked JLG Architects, the company that will be working on the construction.
When it is finished, the new Flight Operations Center will be the first thing people see when they fly into the Grand Forks International Airport, Kraus said, along with the university's growing fleet of aircraft. It will also help students in their journey to exemplify UND's theme of "leaders in action," he said.
"Not only will our alumni be fully prepared to step into their careers for world class professional aviators and aerospace leaders, but the next generation of students who visit may be inspired to come through the gateway and start at UND on their journey," he said.
Ahearn, who took a moment to speak before those in attendance, mentioned Ray's fondness for UND's aviation program. Ahearn said he himself thinks UND has the finest aviation program in the country.
"He loved the spirit of the place," he said. "I can tell you, having been coming here now for nearly 20 years myself, there's an energy here, a confidence, a happiness, a dedication to excellence, which is unrivaled."
©2025 the Grand Forks Herald (Grand Forks, N.D.). Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
