Avon Park Airport Ready To Unveil Its New Addition

The city of Avon Park has big plans for its municipal airport.

Next month is the grand opening of the Fixed Based Operator (FBO) Administration Building.

"We plan on growing the airport as part of the master plan," said C.B. Shirey, airport manager. The expansion includes attracting more pilots and building more hangars.

The city hopes to entice more pilots to land their planes by building a more convenient and modern space for pilots and their passengers.

The new administration building includes an office for the FBO manager, an area for pilots that includes a lounge and a computer area, restroom and vending machine facilities, and a rental car area. The FBO used to be housed in a section in the maintenance hangar that received considerable water damage from a hurricane in 2004. Currently, the FBO operates out of a small trailer by the maintenance hangar.

The city rents the hangars to pilots but collects no landing fees. The Florida Aircraft Services, FBO since October 2007, collects money from fuel sales, aircraft rental, and hangar rental, maintenance and servicing, and annual inspections, said Kevin Kasley.

Even though Shirey said that the airport has operated with a deficit in the past, business is down and people aren't flying as much, the city went ahead with the new construction.

Shirey said the city dealt with the deficit by "booking a transfer to the airport." In other words the city covered the depreciation.

The next "major project" for the airport is a new master plan, Shirey said. The new master plan could cost the city upward of $175,000, he added. The last master plan was completed in 1988.

But the city has also asked Shirey to complete a feasibility study to assess the value of having the airport become its own airport authority.

"City assistance would be gone then," along with city services, Shirey said. Those services include mowing the lawn, maintaining the airfield, and Shirey's salary.

According to Shirey, four businesses at the airport generate a total of about 50 jobs for area workers. Those businesses are Highlands Aviation, Florida Aircraft Services, Lake Wales Air Services Inc. and Classic Caladiums. Avon Park got its first airport grant from the Florida Department of Transportation in 2002, and construction began in August. It has 31,000 annual take-offs and landings, DOT estimated. It has 58 T-hangars, seven of which are vacant, on two runways on 350 acres.

The city plans a grand opening with a ribbon cutting and local dignitaries next month.

"I think the airport is going to be the shining spot of Avon Park," Kasley said. "It has so much potential."

FAST FACTS

The new administration building includes an office for the FBO manager, an area for pilots that includes a lounge and a computer area, restroom and vending machine facilities, and a rental car area. The FBO used to be housed in a section in the maintenance hangar that received considerable water damage from a hurricane in 2004. Currently, the FBO operates out of a small trailer by the maintenance hangar.