Wichita ? A couple of Sedgwick County commissioners are wondering if there’s still a need to build a $54 million aviation training center at a time when so many workers in the industry are being laid off.

Commissioner Gwen Welshimer questions whether students will enroll and if they’ll get jobs after. She said the project, largely funded by Sedgwick County, might need to be broadened to include other areas, such as health care.

But aviation leaders and another commissioner say they are building for the future, not the present.

Pete Gustaf, president of Wichita Area Technical College, says the industry is in much better shape than after Sept. 11, 2001.

“We did not have the infrastructure after 9/11 to be able to retrain these people who needed retraining,” said Gustaf, also chief executive of the Sedgwick County Technical Education and Training Authority.

Commissioner Dave Unruh said demand for training will increase, despite the slowing economy.

The center will offer several training programs and is expected to have about 1,500 full-time students.

The slumping economy has affected orders for planes. Layoff announcements at Wichita plants began in November and the number of jobs to be cut now stands at more than 3,500.