LAWTON – Construction on the Firehawk Aerospace complex in northwest Lawton is progressing, and the Lawton Economic Development Authority has two development plans in the works.
Also, LEDA Executive Director Richard Rogalski gave Southwest Ledger a brief status report on Westwin recently.
During a meeting last week, LEDA was told by a representative of Ryan Herring Construction that “great progress” is being made on the Firehawk construction project, and that 140,000 cubic yards of dirt have been moved on the 320acre site. “We’re on schedule.”
The walls of some of the buildings are 2 feet and 3 feet thick, Larry Adair said. The 10 Firehawk contracts awarded June 18 included bid packages for Buildings 4, 5 and 6 at the complex.
Firehawk Aerospace produces hybrid rocket engine propellant. The Addison, Texas-based company utilizes 3D-printed solid rocket fuel for hybrid engines for various applications, including defense and commercial space exploration.
The Firehawk complex is located on a half-section of undeveloped land directly north of the Goodyear tire manufacturing plant, between 112th Street and Goodyear Boulevard. The site is north of what would be Gore Boulevard if the street extended farther west.
The land was owned by the Comanche County Industrial Development Authority. A purchase and sale agreement on the 320 acres closed on April 20, Rogalski told the Ledger; LEDA now owns the property and leases it to Firehawk. In exchange for the land, LEDA will remit $1.6 million to the CCIDA: $500,000 up front and, starting in two years, four annual payments of $275,000 each.
In a separate matter, “We will be taking two plans to the Lawton City Council soon,” Rogalski informed the Ledger. One is a “traditional economic development” plan and other is a residential redevelopment plan, he said.
As for Westwin Elements, “We’re still working out the details,” Rogalski said. The company has been in default on its redevelopment agreement with LEDA since June 1.
In an agreement dated Dec. 12, 2023, LEDA lent Westwin $2.7 million in “development financing” to support construction of a pilot plant. That funding included $1 million from the City of Lawton and a $2 million loan to LEDA from the Comanche County Industrial Development Authority; however, $300,000 from that loan was held in reserve, Rogalski said. The loan would have been “forgiven” if Westwin had developed a largescale refinery in Lawton.
“They didn’t come through,” he told the Ledger. “They didn’t buy” the pilot plant. “They are in default on the agreement unless a modification is approved by all parties.”
In February the Lawton City Council formally acknowledged Westwin’s confirmation that it does not intend to build in Lawton a commercial refinery of critical elements such as nickel. In a letter dated Sept. 4, 2025, a Lawton official pointed to Westwin’s announcement on Aug. 26, 2025, that “it will not proceed with development of the large-scale commercial refinery in Lawton.”
A joint resolution acknowledging Westwin Elements’ “notice of its election not to proceed” with the large-scale plant was approved Jan. 13 by the City Council. LEDA approved the same resolution Dec. 18.
The primary reason why Westwin chose to abandon plans for a large-scale commercial nickel refinery in Lawton was attributed to logistics, “meaning the cost to truck (materials) to Lawton and out,” Rogalski told the Ledger on Dec. 19, 2025. “They saw it as an insurmountable issue for Lawton.”
The lease agreement provides that if the arrangement falls through – which it did – Westwin’s lease expired May 31, the City of Lawton owns the Westwin building and the 40-acre site reverts to the CCIDA.
The CCIDA deeded the Westwin land to LEDA “and now we have to figure out how to get the land back to the CCIDA,” Rogalski said.
The CCIDA could, like any landlord, file a petition in court to have Westwin evicted from the property, or Westwin could voluntarily “move out” and the CCIDA “wouldn’t have to go to court,” Rogalski related.
However, “We’re being told work is still being done out there,” Rogalski told the Ledger last week. Westwin has “12 or 13 employees” at the pilot plant.
Meanwhile, Westwin still owes $2.7 million. “There’s a realistic chance we could get paid,” Rogalski said, “if we give them a certain amount of time.” But that length of time has not been quantified.