CAA: GA News, "Michigan county is planning to purchase private airfield"

["Stephen Irwin" <Stephen.Irwin@pmail.net>]

Tuesday, May 9, 2000

County is planning to purchase private airfield
New Hudson strip aids with corporate traffic
BY HUGH McDIARMID JR.
DETROIT FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER


A private airfield near Wixom will continue to relieve Oakland International
Airport of burgeoning corporate air traffic after the county buys it for
$3.58 million.

County officials on Monday announced their intention to buy the 83-acre New
Hudson Airport in Lyon Township. A state grant is expected to fund all but
$179,000.

County Executive L. Brooks Patterson said the airport was for sale and on
the verge of being purchased by developers eager to raze it for homes or
commercial ventures.

That would have forced most of the airfield's 42,000 annual takeoffs and
landings to Oakland International in Waterford, causing more congestion,
traffic and delay.

"Who knows how important this acquisition will be in the year 2020 or 2030?"
Patterson said. "This is a one-time opportunity to purchase an airport that
will serve the aviation needs of southwest Oakland County residents for
years to come."

New Hudson will be renamed Oakland Southwest Airport, bringing to three the
number of county-owned fields. Troy-Oakland Airport in Troy also serves as a
reliever airport for Oakland International.

Elizabeth Myers, owner of New Hudson Airport, declined comment on the deal
Monday.

The New Hudson airstrip has a 3,000-foot-long runway. That's less than half
the length of the 6,200-foot main runway at Oakland International, said J.
David VanderVeen, director of central services for the county. The New
Hudson Airport handles single-engine and light twin-engine aircraft,
including many private and corporate planes.

The county will widen the 40-foot-wide runway but not extend it, VanderVeen
said.

"The biggest challenge will be to buy the approaches," he said, referring to
vacant land surrounding the airfield that the county will seek as a buffer.

No estimates were available of how much land would be needed for that
buffer, or what it would cost.

The New Hudson airfield has 10 percent of the traffic of Oakland
International, but fills a niche in a region where corporate travel is on
the upswing and the number of airports is declining.

Among 40 airports closed in Michigan since 1984, several were in Oakland
County. The Big Beaver Airport in Troy and Spencer Field in Wixom closed
during the late 1990s.

Though corporate flights are increasing, VanderVeen said, airport property
often is worth more if the owners sell to developers.

That would have happened soon at New Hudson, where the airport was
established in 1946 to train war veterans pursuing their pilot's licenses
under the G.I. Bill after World War II.

VanderVeen said airport customers should notice no disruption in service as
the ownership is transferred.


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