Local credit union building new digs

Air Academy Federal Credit Union is creating a little more elbow room for the 100 employees at its Colorado Springs headquarters.
In July, construction started on a building that will more than double its office space.
The 45,000-member financial institution has grown by nearly 60 percent during the past five years to $385 million in assets spread among 12 branches. Glenn Strebe, Air Academy’s chief executive. said the credit union searched for nearly two years to find a centrally located site of the right size to accommodate Air Academy’s growth for decades before finding a 13-acre parcel at 9810 N. Union Blvd., northeast of Powers and Union boulevards.
Air Academy officials hope to move into the 52,000-square-foot, four-story headquarters during the third quarter of 2009 and sell their 20,000-square-foot headquarters at 1355 Kelly Johnson Blvd. that the credit union built in 1980 after moving off academy grounds..
The new building will include a branch with drive-up facilities, meeting rooms, a fitness center, storage and space to expand information technology operations, he said.