A long-planned Aerospace Training Center to be located at the old Chamber of Commerce building at Renton Airport is now on an indefinite hiatus.

The city of Renton on Monday sent a letter to the State Department of Commerce detailing plans to return approximately $11 million in grants to allow the state to re-allocate the money.

According to the letter, the city, which was acting as fiscal agent for the money, was asked in December by both the Aerospace Futures Alliance and their affiliated non-profit Washington Manufacturing Advanced Training Institute to suspend activities related to construction so they could secure operational funding.

Since then, no progress has been made on securing the operations money, prompting the city to terminate the project.

“We were pretty excited about this training center so we’re pretty disappointed,” Mayor Denis Law said Wednesday.

Law said the city’s goal was always to support the aerospace sector, particularly Boeing, by providing advanced training in the industry, but in this case, the city’s role was to simply provide the land and act as the fiscal agent.

“Clearly the operations and programs and all the things necessary to make this thing go was the responsibility of the AFA,” Law said.

AFA Executive Director Kelly Maloney said in an email that her group supports the city’s decision, and that while they still see a need for the center, the WMATI was just unable to get it off the ground at this time.

“The vision for an aerospace training center in South Puget Sound was based on a real, and what is fast becoming a critical, need for skilled workers for the Washington State aerospace industry,” Maloney said. “AFA is committed to working with industry, the community and technical colleges, and in particular Renton Technical College, to help provide Washington students with the skills aerospace employers require.”

The funding for the project was approved in 2012 and 2013. The plan was to build a 21,000-square-foot facility with multiple classrooms and three “high bays” that will be big enough to house airplane parts like wings or a fuselage.

The building was designed to handle 80 to 120 students per shift, or an estimated 1,500 per year.

Early renderings showed a three-story structure built into the hillside at the southwest corner of the airport. Much of the main level was glass with an angled roof designed to invoke the image of an airplane wing.

Law said there were no new plans for the land and building as of yet, but discussions would begin “soon.”

THIS STORY HAS BEEN CORRECTED: Due to an error, the location of the building was incorrectly reported. It was to be located in the southwest corner of the airport property.