"Senator: New airport terminal to help city grow"

["Stephen Irwin" <stepheni@xxxxxxxxx>]

Saturday, March 22, 2008

Senator: New airport terminal to help city grow
By Lowell Brown
The Denton (TX) Record-Chronicle


A new million-dollar terminal building at Denton Municipal Airport will help
drive the city's economic engine for years to come, U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey
Hutchison said Friday. 

Hutchison, R-Texas, joined other dignitaries and area residents at the
airport Friday morning to ceremonially open the $1.36 million,
4,600-square-foot terminal building. 

"This is going to make a huge difference in economic development and new
opportunities for Denton," Hutchison said, with several aircraft positioned
just outside the building's windows as her backdrop. 

Mayor Perry McNeill introduced the senator as a champion of the airport in
west Denton, pointing to $6 million in federal earmarks he said she secured
for it since 2003. 

"I'm proud that I've been able to help make this day happen," Hutchison
said. "It took a lot of effort - from the state, from the federal government
and from the local community as well." 

The terminal building, which opened for business Dec. 10, includes a
conference room, lobby, flight planning area and administration offices. It
replaced the former 1,300-square-foot terminal built in 1964 and demolished
in 2006. 

"I think it provides a visible sign of commitment on the part of the
community," said Rick Woolfolk, chairman of the airport's advisory board.
"It provides a place for people to come in and have a quick meeting, which
we didn't have before." 

Denton secured $150,000 in federal funds and $400,000 in Texas Department of
Transportation grants to aid the project, said Mark Nelson, the city's chief
transportation officer. 

David Fulton, director of the state transportation department's aviation
division, stressed the project's potential to spur economic expansion. 

"Business aviation is going to grow substantially in the years to come, and
I think you're positioned so well to make that happen," Fulton said. 

The terminal building is part of a wider effort to enhance the growing
reliever airport, which city leaders view as a vital economic development
tool. A new parallel taxiway opened last year, and future plans include a
7,000-foot runway extension, security perimeter fencing, a radar system and
a new taxiway on the airport's southeast side. 

The terminal building project got off to a turbulent start in 2006 when City
Council members rejected construction bids they believed were too expensive.
A new round of bids proved even more costly, which drew criticism from some
who had feared re-bidding the project would backfire. 

McNeill didn't address that controversy in his statements Friday but said
council members were determined to construct a building that would "make a
statement" about Denton. 

Fulton said officials achieved that goal. 

"It has been said for a long time in general aviation that the airport is
the front door to your community," Fulton said. "And now you have a
wonderful front door."

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