Jun 5, 2007
By Madhu Unnikrishnan/Airports
FAA has pledged $72 million in Airport Improvement Program funds for the relocation of Panama City-Bay County International Airport to a 4,000-acre parcel of land donated by Florida's St. Joe Co.
FAA committed the funds, to be disbursed over four years, after concluding that "both physical and environmental restrictions at the existing site make it impractical and extremely costly to update [the airport] to meet FAA standards." The existing airport is hemmed in by residential and business development on three sides and North Bay on the other. The runway's 59-foot overrun ends in the bay. Updating the runway to comply with FAA overrun regulations would be cost-prohibitive on the land side, and it would be illegal to extend it into the water due to 15 acres of protected sea grass directly off the existing runway (Airports, Jan. 31, 2006).
With the FAA's $72 million, the airport authority is within sight of funding the entire $330 million airport relocation plan, said Kip Turner, executive assistant for the airport. Florida's Transportation Department has pledged $119 million toward the project, he added.
An additional $70 million will come from the sale of the existing airport, Turner said. The airport authority's board is evaluating two bids for the sale, one from PCA Development for about $75 million and one from Community Airport Redevelopment for about $60 million, he said. Both bids aim to make the 713-acre site of the existing airport into mixed commercial and residential developments, he said.
Turner said the next milestone in the process is expected in June, when the airport authority anticipates getting its 404 permit from the Army Corps of Engineers to build on the new site. Once the airport authority gets the permit, it can begin bidding the project, and it expects to break ground "in the latter part of the summer or early fall at the latest," he said. The new airport is expected to begin operations by the end of 2009, he said.
No local tax dollars are being spent on the project, Turner said. The 4,000-acre parcel of land was donated by the St. Joe Co. as part of a larger residential and commercial development the company is planning.
Initially, the airport will use 1,400 acres of the new site, with the balance on hand "for growth as we need it," Turner said.
By Madhu Unnikrishnan/Airports
FAA has pledged $72 million in Airport Improvement Program funds for the relocation of Panama City-Bay County International Airport to a 4,000-acre parcel of land donated by Florida's St. Joe Co.
FAA committed the funds, to be disbursed over four years, after concluding that "both physical and environmental restrictions at the existing site make it impractical and extremely costly to update [the airport] to meet FAA standards." The existing airport is hemmed in by residential and business development on three sides and North Bay on the other. The runway's 59-foot overrun ends in the bay. Updating the runway to comply with FAA overrun regulations would be cost-prohibitive on the land side, and it would be illegal to extend it into the water due to 15 acres of protected sea grass directly off the existing runway (Airports, Jan. 31, 2006).
With the FAA's $72 million, the airport authority is within sight of funding the entire $330 million airport relocation plan, said Kip Turner, executive assistant for the airport. Florida's Transportation Department has pledged $119 million toward the project, he added.
An additional $70 million will come from the sale of the existing airport, Turner said. The airport authority's board is evaluating two bids for the sale, one from PCA Development for about $75 million and one from Community Airport Redevelopment for about $60 million, he said. Both bids aim to make the 713-acre site of the existing airport into mixed commercial and residential developments, he said.
Turner said the next milestone in the process is expected in June, when the airport authority anticipates getting its 404 permit from the Army Corps of Engineers to build on the new site. Once the airport authority gets the permit, it can begin bidding the project, and it expects to break ground "in the latter part of the summer or early fall at the latest," he said. The new airport is expected to begin operations by the end of 2009, he said.
No local tax dollars are being spent on the project, Turner said. The 4,000-acre parcel of land was donated by the St. Joe Co. as part of a larger residential and commercial development the company is planning.
Initially, the airport will use 1,400 acres of the new site, with the balance on hand "for growth as we need it," Turner said.
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