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Coming to airport: joy, maybe turbulence

Albert Whitted in downtown St. Petersburg will finally get big upgrades, but a turf issue could also loom.

By CARRIE WEIMAR
Published February 19, 2006

ST. PETERSBURG - More than two years after voters decided overwhelmingly to preserve Albert Whitted Airport, big changes are coming to the 79-year-old facility.

A new 10,600-square-foot terminal building with a restaurant and a pilot lounge is in the works. So is a $2-million air traffic control tower. A facelift for the airport's rusty, aging hangars is planned.

On Thursday, the City Council voted unanimously to accept nearly $500,000 in grant money from the Federal Aviation Administration for a new apron where planes will park.

To Albert Whitted activists, it's sweet justice after years of neglect.

"I'm just so thankful these projects are finally on the front burner," said Ruth Varn, who has worked on behalf of the airport for nearly 24 years.

But like most everything else concerning Albert Whitted, the development at the airport is not without controversy.

The latest point of contention between the city and airport supporters is over boundaries.

The actual property line for Albert Whitted Airport extends beyond the facility's fences. It includes a sizable chunk of where the Bayfront Center Arena once sat, which will eventually become the new home of the Salvador Dali Museum.

Because the city has accepted grant money from the FAA in the past, it must receive permission from the federal agency to build on airport land. The FAA would also require the city to pay either a lease or a lump-sum payment for the airport land based on fair-market value.

Dave Metz, the city's downtown enterprise facilities manager, said a survey is being conducted to determine the value of the land. Results are expected in the next two weeks.

The city has used airport land for different purposes for years. In addition to the Bayfront Center Arena, the nearby wastewater treatment facility is also built on what is technically airport property. The city pays into the airport's operating fund to compensate for the use.

Council chairman Bill Foster said he's a little frustrated by the attitude he's getting from airport supporters over the Dali land.

"I keep hearing, "We're not going to give up 1 inch of land without a fight,' " Foster said. "Well, don't fight us."

Foster said he and the other council members are committed to helping Albert Whitted, but they also want to see plans for the Dali Museum move forward. A long fight over the price of land could put the project on hold indefinitely.

Although more than 70 percent of voters passed a referendum in 2003 to preserve the airport, most didn't know airport property extended beyond the fence, Foster added.

"That was not the mindset of the voters," he said. "There's property beyond the fences the airport doesn't really need."

But Jack Tunstill, a pilot and leading airport advocate, said it's too early to predict how much land the airport will need in the future.

"There's a lot happening with technology," he said.

None of the airport supporters want to sink the Dali project, Tunstill said. But they do want to ensure that the city pays a fair price for the land - money that will be used to fund future projects and maintenance at the airport.

"There have been cases in other cities where the mayor has promised the airport something and then it never happened," Tunstill said. "We don't want that to happen here."

The City Council is expected to discuss the survey results within the next few weeks, Metz said.

Planes have flown into Albert Whitted since 1917, but it wasn't officially christened until 1927. The airport was busy throughout the 1930s and '40s, first as home to one of the nation's earliest commercial airlines, National Airlines, and then as a naval training base during World War II.

It is a hub for some charter planes and smaller private planes, with about 200 aircraft based there.

Ed Montanari, chairman of a city task force created to plan for the future of Albert Whitted, said he thinks a fair solution will be reached over the airport property.

"There's a lot of good things happening in that corner of St. Petersburg," Montanari said. "And nobody wants to derail that."

Carrie Weimar can be reached at 727 892-2273 or cjohnson@sptimes.com

[Last modified February 19, 2006, 01:08:19]