The old terminal at the Springfield-Branson National Airport could be partially filled come spring.

The Missouri Guard signed a Community Covenant Thursday with Springfield and Greene County.

The idea of the covenant is to foster partnerships between the community and the army, one of which will most likely be expanding at the old airport terminal.

The old terminal has been empty for about seven months since flights moved to the new Midfield Terminal.

"There's no doubt we would rather put building to use and have it generate revenue, rather than just having it sit here," airport spokesman Kent Boyd said.

The Missouri National Guard looks to fill up part of the 175,000 square foot space.

"What we're looking at in short run is using south 40,000 square feet of terminal building, which used to be old AVCRAD facility with old hangar," Brigadier General Stephen Danner said.

The Guard would use the old hangar facility to cover rotary, helicopters, and fixed wings.

Long-term the guard is aiming to build a nearly $16 million armory at the airport, bringing in additional army and air units to Springfield, but that could take seven years.

"The great thing about old terminal is it being isolated. Much more capability there for security for army units, and particularly if we get more sensitive secret units that we're looking at coming in that would have to have special security measures," Danner said.

Once numbers on lease agreements are figured out, the Guard says it needs approval from the Pentagon before officially leasing the space, but Danner says he hopes to be able to start retrofitting the area for Guard use by spring.

The airport says there are other entities also interested in using other parts of the old terminal.