Firm reveals options for south Kalispell, city airport

City officials received an update on Wednesday on an effort aimed at revitalizing south Kalispell, which includes the fate of the Kalispell City Airport.

Wayne Freeman of CTA Architects and Engineers met with members of the Urban Renewal Agency and Airport Advisory boards, as well as city staff. Over the past few months, CTA has been collecting public comments about what could be done to improve the area.

At this latest meeting, Freeman came with some preliminary ideas for the area and its centerpiece, the 71-acre general aviation facility.

“You’ve got a split community with regards to the airport,” he said.

Many area residents know that story well.

Things came to a head in 2012 when the Kalispell City Council voted to upgrade and expand the airport with a significant contribution from the Federal Aviation Administration.

Residents successfully petitioned for a referendum on that decision, which put the project on hold. In 2013, voters defeated the expansion project.

According to CTA’s surveys this year, 74 percent of respondents wanted to keep or improve the airport. The poll included a little more than 100 people.

On Wednesday, Freeman provided three basic scenarios for the airport.

One would be to keep the airport in its current form and try to cultivate more of its own sustaining revenue sources. That could include building more hangars to lease, a demand that airport board members said is already there.

The goal would be to repair and keep up with roughly $500,000 in “immediate improvements” as identified by CTA.

Scenario number two would be closure of the airport, which comes with its own considerable costs. The city would have to negotiate and buy out hangar leases, a cost  estimated at $4.8 million in 2013. That could be a long — and possibly litigious — process.

After that, the land would have to be repurposed and developed. Freeman said that removing the runway would be a costly process by itself. The underground utilities that already run through the area would be a positive aspect in the redevelopment scenario.

Finally, Freeman said that a third option would be to revisit the FAA funding for airport improvements, a move he characterized as a “complicated political environment.”

That’s the preferred scenario for the airport manager, Red Wing Aviation. Red Eagle Director of Operations Dave Hoerner said that some parts of the facility need attention and the city can step in to fulfill that.

“The potential in this airport has never been realized because the city has not done a great job in backing it,” he said.

In addition, Hoerner said Red Eagle is reducing the scope of its improvement plan with the FAA.

In 2012, the upgrade was a federally designated “B-2” and included a major runway extension. This time around, Hoerner said they are aiming at a “B-1” standard, which involves less drastic changes.

Hoerner and Freeman said that it’s rare for other airports of similar size to reject federal funds for improvements and maintenance.

“That money isn’t a gift,” Hoerner said. “You and I pay it every time we fly.”

The South Kalispell Urban Renewal Plan involves an area larger than just the airport, which is a key difference from the 2012 saga.

Freeman presented some preliminary ideas for the area that his team will plan for over the next several months. He offered a list of possible infrastructure features such as a dog park, city entrance sign and pedestrian trails.

He suggested that improvements be made to Cemetery Road, especially with a public school planned for the future south of the airport.

Commercial development in the area would have special consideration for two factors: a growing residential base and businesses that cater to aviation.

“Everything’s grown around it, but there’s a lack of identity for the airport,” Freeman said.

Those businesses could range from car rentals to coffee shops to airplane maintenance.

Freeman and CTA are still in the early stages of their contract work for the city. The next step will be to hammer out various plans for south Kalispell.

Bruce Tulloch, a member of the Airport Advisory Board, said on Wednesday that one of the biggest challenges for the airport has been that things are in limbo and that the future has been uncertain for years.

“There are extreme positives of having a general aviation airport for the community,” Freeman said, adding that the key is profitability.

Reporter Matt Hudson may be reached at 758-4459 or by email at mhudson@dailyinterlake.com.