The Spokane Airport Board has issued a request for qualifications from electrical engineering firms interested in providing design and also possibly construction-oversight services for electrical-system improvements at Felts Field Airport. The board says improvements are needed to bring the East Spokane airfield into compliance with current Federal Aviation Administration standards.

The board has set a deadline of 2 p.m. Dec. 11 for receiving qualifications statements. Leisa Kosanke, marketing manager for Spokane Airports, says the board is in the early stages of planning for the project, but the improvements are expected to occur next year and to be paid for with grant funding.

An approximate cost for the project isn't available, she says, since design work hasn't begun.

Kosanke says the improvements will include replacing some or possibly all of the electrical wiring in the airfield's edge lighting, and associated conduits and vaults.

The edge lighting is more than 30 years old, she says. The lighting works, but needs improvements and modifications, she says.

The majority of the airfield's circuits are past their useful life, a published request for qualifications documents says.

The work also will include adding a pilot-actuated airport lighting control for the lighted runway and taxiways, according to the documents.

This new lighting control will provide pilots with the ability to turn the lights on, and save the airport energy because it won't have to leave them on, Kosanke says.

Felts Field is a 400-acre airport that is home to more than 320 aircraft and 49 tenants. In the 1930s and 1940s, it served as Spokane's municipal airport.

The Spokane Airport Board is made up of seven people appointed from Spokane County and the city of Spokane. The two units of government operate Spokane International Airport and Felts Field jointly.