Monday, December 17, 2007

Officials give an update on construction at the airport

Airport officials updated local media on the progress of construction at the Auburn-Opelika Robert G. Pitts Airport Wednesday.

June 7, 2007

Airport officials updated local media on the progress of construction at the Auburn-Opelika Robert G. Pitts Airport Wednesday.

With Alabama clay at their feet and a blazing sun overhead, attendees listened as Airport Director Bill Hutto pointed out how a new access road will tie into the area, where new hangars will be erected and where the airport’s long-awaited new terminal - the “centerpiece” of the expansion, he said - will one day stand.

Hutto was joined by State Rep. Mike Hubbard, R-Auburn, who is credited with securing $2.5 million in state funds for the expansion project over the past four years.

Hubbard said the existing airport facilities are inadequate and that because of the growth the Auburn-Opelika area has seen in recent years, the area is “underserved” by the current facilities.

“It’s something this community needs very badly,” Hubbard said of the expansion. “Our area has outgrown what we have.”
Hubbard said the project is critical for economic development efforts in Lee County.

“(The airport) is a huge factor” for businesses considering the Lee County area, Hubbard said. “Everything they do hinges on the airport.”

But the airport expansion won’t just benefit new companies to Lee County, Hubbard said; companies already here will benefit, as well.

Hubbard said he has spoken with officials from one Auburn company that is considering consolidating its flight operations, currently spread throughout the southeast, at the Auburn-Opelika Airport once the expansion is complete.

That would be an economic boon to the area, Hubbard said, because the fuel for those planes would be bought locally, instead of in places like Tuskegee and LaGrange, Ga., where many private planes are based now because of space constraints.

And although Auburn and Opelika’s respective economic development departments compete against each other for new industries, they work together well when it comes to the airport, Hubbard said.

The airport expansion “is in everyone’s best interest,” he said.
Hutto described how the existing terminal facility, which was built in 1950, will be replaced on the opposite side of the airport property by a terminal that will be the face of the airport’s “new image.

“(The existing terminal) has served us well, but it is too small, too close to the runway,” he said. “It’s time that we move into something that’s modern.”

The new terminal will be served by an access road that will tie into Frederick Road, providing easy access to Auburn, Opelika and Interstate 85.

Hutto said that as company representatives fly into the Auburn-Opelika area, “they want to come to a progressive, dynamic area.

“And we’re going to look like one when they land at the airport,” he said.

Once complete, the expansion is expected to have cost an estimated $10 million - “a great investment for the community,” Hutto said, considering the jobs and tax revenues generated by new businesses in the area.

“The payoff will be much more than that ... the community is going to more than get their money back,” Hutto said.