Page Field is modernizing
General aviation airport getting new taxiways, terminal
BY MICHELLE L. START Correspondent

FLORIDA-WEEKLY PHOTO Coleen Baker, senior manager of general aviation at Page Field, points to an airport map, showing where a new taxiway is being built.

A new terminal and two sets of taxiways leading up to it are in the works at Page Field, where growth, business travel and tourism has translated into some 90,000 flights a year.

"We do have this lobby full at times," said Coleen Baker, senior manager of general aviation at Page Field. "When you get 30 people in here, it is crowded."

Pilots check in to the lobby, request services and sometimes spend the day waiting for passengers to come back from sightseeing.

"A lot of times pilots are stuck here," said Baker. "We have a pilots lounge. We'll probably expand that in the new terminal. We'll have a bigger, more efficient weather room to plan trips and talk to the FAA. That is like a pilot briefing room. We have a small kitchen here, but that will be larger there. We'll have room over there for a restaurant. We just need newer facilities."

Baker said officials would also like to expand the "Fly Buy" gift shop once they move into the new terminal. The current gift shop sells novelty items like pajamas with airplanes and coffee mugs that read "I love flying." It also sells books detailing all of the airports in the Southeast United States and motion sickness bags.

FLORIDA-WEEKLY PHOTO Workmen spray water on leveled fill to help compact the base for two new taxi ways at Page Field, the county's general aviation airport.

The entire project will cost $34 million and officials are still trying to raise the money. The new terminal is slated to sit within the western quadrant of the airport, across the street from the Steak n Shake restaurant in the Page Field Commons shopping center. It is expected to be 22,613 square feet, compared to the current terminal which is 5,500 square feet.

"The work will include a new terminal building, aircraft aprons, multi-use hangars, auto parking, entrance roadway, landscaping, lighting, airside and landside signage and leasable site development," said Urrutia. "It is still a few years out because of the funding, though. We're trying to get as many grants as possible."

Officials are using grant money from the Department of Transportation and the Federal Aviation Agency to begin constructing the taxi ways. That portion of the project, which will eventually connect the new terminal complex to the runways, is anticipated to cost $11.4 million.

Construction on the taxi way that will parallel runway 5/23 can be seen from the corner of Fowler Street and U.S. 41. There are currently three taxi ways and two runways at the airport.

"It is expected to be done by December, but it won't be used much until the new terminal building opens," said Urrutia.

Baker said there are days when 100 planes land at the airport and others when just 10 land.

"There is no regular schedule with general aviation," she said. "It's not like with commercial flights where they come in and out at a certain time. We have flight schools that use the airport. It is really an iffy type of operation. There are definitely times, though, that we are wishing we had more aircraft room."

Edd Switlik, owner of Page Field based Switlik Aviation, said he has watched the airport grow since opening his repair business there.

"A lot of big money comes in those doors. They come in at all hours of the day and the weekend," he said. "You can see it from Thanksgiving to Easter. It is pretty crazy. The majority (of the traffic) is business. This is a great airport. You can't beat it. It is well-maintained and operated."