OXFORD — Walking through the abandoned offices and hangars of the former Oxford Aviation headquarters is similar to entering a ghost town. 

Office desks are piled high with paperwork and computer workstations – without the hard drives – remain as they were when the company’s owner locked up last November. 

For all intents and purposes, it looks as though employees left in the middle of the workday and never returned, down to the disposable coffee cups left on the desk in owner and founder Jim Horowitz’s old office. He founded the company in 1989, leasing the facility at the Oxford County Regional Airport off Number Six Road.

The facility remained under lock and key until last week, when Oxford County commissioners finally made good on their effort to evict the company after a six-month legal battle.

Standing in the middle of the huge southernmost hangar on Tuesday, County Administrator Scott Cole said commissioners intend to use the next few weeks to complete a legally-required inventory of the equipment and material remaining in the facility, including hazardous waste. 

The near-silent facility is occasionally punctuated by the shriek of a security alarm, set by the former tenant last year. Commissioners haven’t been able to coax the alarm company to reset the password, Cole said.

In the reception area, boxes of tea bags sit next to a coffee maker. Nearby, next to a statue of a small aircraft, lies a yellowing newspaper, displaying an article on one of the many lawsuits that led to the company’s recent demise. 

The hangars remain as they were when Oxford Aviation left the building, down to the cards embossed with employee names fitted into slots next to timecard machines.

In one room, hundreds of cans of paint are organized on shelves. In a sprawling work space nearby, long bolts of cloth and carpeting spill over huge tables next to sewing stations. 

A lone aircraft, with the image of a cartoon hawk on its side, remains in the southernmost “Charlie” hangar. Cole said the aircraft is owned by a woman from California, who ordered work from the company that was never started. A plethora of power tools and painting equipment is stored near the abandoned aircraft. 

In the center of the hangar is a large pool of water, fed by multiple holes in the ceiling. Paint thinner and other chemicals are stored in dozens of 50-gallon barrels arranged around the building’s inside perimeter.

Huge blown-up copies of feature stories from aviation trade magazines, alongside numerous awards and a plaque with accolades from high-profile elected officials, are mounted on the hallways leading to the facility’s three hangars. 

“Oxford Aviation hasn’t gained a national reputation for excellence by accident.” reads one quote, from former U.S. Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine. “It has forged a niche in the marketplace with vision and a commitment to quality and environmental responsibility,” the quote reads.

Last month, a Chapter 13 Bankruptcy suit filed by Horowitz was dismissed in a Portland court, writing what may be the final chapter in the Oxford Aviation story.

It is still unclear, however, what will become of the assets the company left behind. 

Last September, Community Concepts Finance Corp. sued Oxford Aviation for $62,500 in collateral the company put up in 1996 to secure a loan.

If successful, that suit would entitle CCFC to some of the assets left in the facility. The case, however, was dismissed in February, and if an agreement was reached between the two parties, it has not been filed with the court.

The corporation’s CEO, Dennis Lajoie, did not return a phone message left Tuesday seeking clarification on the case.

There are also dozens of the company’s creditors, listed in the Horowitiz’ bankruptcy filing, and several large settlements pending for civil lawsuits.

Less than a month ago, a federal judge awarded $104,000 to an Ohio woman for damages from an emergency landing blamed on faulty maintenance by Oxford Aviation. That sum adds to the $423,000 awarded to her husband’s company in November for the same case.

On Tuesday, Cole said he was unsure what the future would hold for the building or its contents.

Commissioners are expected to review bids from companies that will perform environmental cleanup and inspect the building’s utility lines, Cole said.

The county did not budget for taking over responsibility of the building, and Cole hopes the cost will be covered by the insurance risk pool maintained by the Maine County Commissioners Association. 

 pmcguire@sunjournal.com

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