October 15th, 2009
San Marcos breaks ground on airport tower

SUBMITTED REPORT

The City of San Marcos broke ground on a new $2.2 million control tower on Wednesday at San Marcos Municipal Airport.

The tower will be part of the Federal Contract Tower Program and staffed by four to six civilian Air Traffic Controllers. The 9-story facility will have 2,295 square feet, including a base building, elevator, and control cab where professional air traffic controllers will manage flights in and out of the reliever airport.

“This project represents the leading edge of several initiatives to advance our airport,” said Mayor Susan Narvaiz.

Staffing levels will be determined by the FAA and the contracted agency based on factors including traffic volumes and daily patterns of activity. Salaries for the controllers will be paid by the FAA.

The $2.2 million project will be built by Zapalac/Reed Construction of Austin and is expected to be completed in the spring and operational in the summer of 2010 following FAA certification.

The airport tower will mean safer air operations at the reliever airport, which serves as home base for more than 200 aircraft, the Central Texas Wing of the Commemorative Air Force, 12  airport businesses and hundreds of transient flights each month.

“We are also moving forward on the North Side Development, which will create a new front door to the airport and provide executive hangars, new utilities and new apron areas for aircraft,” Mayor Narvaiz said.

In the next 12 to 18 months, some $8 million in federal, state, local and private funds will be invested at San Marcos Municipal Airport.

Speakers at the ground breaking included City Manager Rick Menchaca, Mayor Narvaiz, and Chuck Nash, the Airport Commission chair.

The Commemorative Air Force marked the ground breaking with a flyover of World War II aircraft preserved at the CAF museum located at the airport. The 1,350-acre air field first opened during World War II as a training base for the U.S. Army Air Corps.

San Marcos Municipal Airport is located on Texas 21 adjacent to Gary Job Corps Center, which also was created out of the original air base in 1965.

— FROM THE CITY OF SAN MARCOS/MELISSA MILLECAM