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Tower at former Ariz. airfield being restored

PHOENIX — More than 60 years ago, the control tower at Thunderbird Field was a hub for students learning to fly warplanes for the Army Air Forces.

Now, work has begun on turning the structure into a social hub for a new generation of students at the Thunderbird School of Global Management.

World War II veterans recently joined young global-business students in Glendale to celebrate the beginning of restoration on the Thunderbird Field Air Control Tower. The project, once millions of dollars short, is within $450,000 of its fundraising goal and architectural plans are in high gear.

The air-traffic-control tower was built in 1941. Pilots from the United States, Britain, China and other nations used the field to train for aerial combat.

The refurbished building will be a social center, with facilities for dining, shopping and socializing. Part of the hall will be reserved for World War II memorabilia.

Don Marsey, 87, trained on B-17s at the one-time airstrip. He was a wide-eyed cadet in 1943.

“I couldn’t even drive when I got here. I flew before I ever qualified for a driver’s license,” he said.

Not long ago, the Colorado Springs, Colo., resident visited his nephew in metropolitan Phoenix and asked to return to the former airfield.

“It’s been 60-some years. I wonder if it’s still here,” he thought at the time.

Delighted by a new generation’s plan to preserve the tower, Marsey returned for the groundbreaking ceremony and added, “I don’t have a lot of years left, but I want to be here for the grand opening.”

The building should be finished in fall 2011.

The refurbished three-story structure will feature two lounge-like common areas, a kitchen, bathrooms, an executive boardroom and the original glass-enclosed lookout tower atop the roof.

The aging on-campus pub will relocate to a part of the tower.

The building will offer badly needed room for the campus body to interact, said Erica Gonzalez, a second-year student helping the restoration campaign. Besides the pub and cafeteria, “there’s really nowhere for students to get together,” she said.

Maintaining the past appearance of the structure has been part of the planning strategy.

“When you walk in, you’ll be able to see, ‘Wow, this is an old building,’ ” Gonzalez said. “We’re trying to keep what we can to show this was an Air Force training ground. ... It’s part of our history.”

Paradise Valley author Boye Lafayette De Mente graduated from the school in 1953.

“I spent a lot of hours in that old place,” the 87-year-old said.

He spent hours listening to Spanish recordings in the tower’s converted language lab before becoming an editor for many years in Japan.

De Mente’s wife, Margaret, 73, was glad Thunderbird hadn’t chosen to bulldoze and build from scratch.

The tower restoration honors “the people who have gone through here and the impact they’ve made on world business,” she said.

Students are optimistic about raising the final amount they need for completion. They planned to hold a 24-hour telethon over the weekend, reaching out to alumni across the world, calling time zone by time zone.