SALISBURY — The North Carolina National Guard on Tuesday achieved Step 1 in a plan to expand at Mid-Carolina Regional Airport.

The Rowan County commissioners agreed to lease land to the north and west of the Guard’s current Army Aviation Support Facility at the airport.

The request was brought to the commissioners by Maj. Darrell Scoggins.

The facility needs a place to store the 11 Blackhawk UH60s that are stationed there as well as an additional Blackhawk being acquired on Feb. 1.

The Army Aviation Support Facility currently has two hangars with a combined square footage of 6,500.

Only one Blackhawk can be stored in each of those hangars, which were designed for smaller UH1 and OH58 helicopters.

“Even the second hangar, we can put one Blackhawk in there but we have to take the blades off,” said Scoggins.

This, he said, is not very efficient in terms of maintenance. It also increases response time in the event of emergency calls.

Responding to emergencis is critical because the facility supports the Helicopter and Aquatic Rescue Team, a partnership among the National Guard, emergency management and first responders.

Scoggins said the team was called just last week to respond to Linville Gorge. A man had suffered heart complications. The team airlifted him to safety and medical treatment.

With the commissioners’ approval to move forward with the lease, Scoggins said plans are in the works for further development. There is talk of the Guard constructing a 75,000-square-foot hangar, big enough to house all 12 Blackhawks and the operations and shops necessary for day-to-day operations.

That plan, Scoggins said, is very preliminary.

“We’re working with our construction office to come up with what we call a master plan, similar to any kind of long-term construction project,” he said. “They are developing that for us now based with our input and our leadership’s input to design what we need.”

Airport Director Kevin Davis said the lease and eventual growth will bring an influx of transient aircraft, helping the airport “move forward.”

“It’s a win-win for us right now at the airport. For anybody that’s ever had the opportunity to see what the men and women and the major do every day, it is thoroughly impressive,” Davis said. “Any way we can assist them I think is a great opportunity for growth at our airport.”

Scoggins said there are no plans to break ground on construction in the immediate future but planning for how the facility will look continues.

Possibilities include a possible expansion or relocation of the Helicopter and Aquatic Response Team training area on leased property. Scoggins said the hope is to work with partners in Raleigh and other agencies to continue training in that area.

There is also talk of the facility becoming a domestic operations response center: a place for outside aid providers to come and be briefed during natural disasters or other catastrophes.

For now, the focus remains on new hangars, while the old hangars will remain in place and be used for dry or heated mechanical storage.

The 25-year land lease follows the Guard’s recent investment in renovating its Readiness Center, or armory.

“We’re not going anywhere. We’ve invested a lot of money into the armory, and we hope to invest a lot of money into our hangars,” said Scoggins. “We’re going to be here for a duration.”