DESTIN — Within minutes of the Destin Airport’s refurbished runway opening Friday morning, planes were touching down.
“We had our first incoming arrival at 6:03 a.m.,” Okaloosa County Deputy Airports Director Tracy Stage said. “We had our first departure at 6:09 a.m.”
Crews from C.W. Roberts and RS&H spent the past month resurfacing the 5,000-foot-long, 100-foot-wide runway. The final safety inspection and cleanup was Thursday, and the project wrapped up that night.
The airport had been closed to fixed-wing air traffic since Feb. 4 during the runway’s first major overhaul since it opened in 1963.
As part of the roughly $5 million project, the airport’s electronic runway navigation system, taxiway signs, directional signs and runway signs were replaced. LED lights also were installed.
The runway originally was expected to reopen Feb. 12, but weather stymied those plans. Still, Stage said the repairs were completed “as planned and under budget.”
“We may be able to use the leftover money from the runway for other projects,” said Stage, who noted that the airport’s taxiways still need resurfacing.
Stage said Destin Airport sees roughly 60,000 flights a year.
With the major work on the runway completed, the only thing left is to finish the permanent striping. That will be done in about 30 days.
Now Okaloosa County airport officials can turn their attention to other projects, such as the proposed air traffic control tower.
The tower was approved earlier this year when the Federal Aviation Administration accepted Destin into its contract tower program. The tower, which would cost about $3 million, would stand about 84.5 feet tall on the east side of the runway forward of the mid-point.
Local officials, pilots and residents have debated the merits of a control tower at Destin Airport for years. Some say it’s not necessary while other say it’s vital to air safety.
Because of the increase in planes, helicopters, military flights and parasail operations, county Airports Director Greg Donovan has told city leaders the tower would allow for simultaneous takeoffs at Destin, Northwest Florida Regional Airport and Eglin Air Force Base. Simultaneous takeoffs now are prohibited.
An environmental assessment of the project was completed recently, Stage said.
“We have a funding plan in place for the tower and the access road that would lead to the tower,” he said.
Construction could begin next year.
Destin Log Staff Writer Matt Algarin can be reached at 850-654-8446 or malgarin@thedestinlog.com. Follow him on Twitter @DestinLogMatt.