Rep. Earl Pomeroy, D-N.D., has hit a triple for North Dakota, but he's still sitting on third base. The reward for crossing home plate is $7.3 million for the construction of a Black Hawk helicopter hangar at the North Dakota National Guard Army Aviation Support Facility in Bismarck.

Funding for the project is included in the House of Representatives' version of the 2004 Defense Authorization bill, which was reported out by the House Armed Services Committee late Wednesday. The bill goes before the full House, then heads to conference committee. The Senate's version of the bill does not have money for the hangar.

Pomeroy, Gov. John Hoeven, Brig. Gen. David Sprynczynatyck and Col. Charles Rydell, director of facilities and engineering for the National Guard, were all on hand Friday morning for the announcement in Bismarck.

"It's not part of the Senate bill, it will go into conference committee," Pomeroy said. "But I feel we're in good shape."

Pomeroy said the ranking committee member told him he's on third base, not quite home yet, with securing the funding.

North Dakota has three Black Hawk helicopters and five more will make their way to Bismarck in the near future. But because the Black Hawks are so much bigger than the Huey helicopters, there's isn't enough room to store and work on the helicopters inside a building.

The new hangar will solve that problem. All eight will fit in that hangar.

"We've all heard that if you build it they will come," Rydell said. "We have a situation where they're here, there's more to come, so we need to build it."

If approved, the money would be in the 2004 fiscal year budget, which starts on Oct. 1. Building design work would begin as soon as funding is approved, construction would begin next spring and the building would be ready by 2005.

The new building would go up near the current hangar and would provide 30,000 square feet of space.

The House and Senate are expected to vote on the Defense Authorization bill next week.

(Reach reporter Mark Hanson at 250-8264 or mark@ndonline.com.)