Bolivar community growth takes flight

Southwest Missouri's fourth fastest-growing community, Bolivar, is far enough from Springfield to have its own personality, according to Jeff Hancock, city administrator.

About 26 miles or so north of Springfield on Highway 13, Bolivar boasts a nearly-finished water tower to handle an 80-acre industrial park being developed adjacent to 13 and Highway T. Ground will be broken in August for an airport expansion that the city hopes will attract even more corporate jets that it gets now, Hancock added.

By adding 600 feet to the 3,400-foot airstrip that borders Silo Ridge Country Club and widening it by 75 feet, it is hoped that businesspersons who own corporate jets will find the Polk County seat a desirable area in which to develop new businesses, he said.

Hancock, previously an assistant city manager in Kansas City who helped with economic development at that metropolis' airport, said he believes accessibility by air is a key to his city's growth. The city has grown 33.6 percent since 1990, according to census figures, from 6,845 to 9,143. Ozark has 9,665 residents, only about 500 more than Bolivar.

About five years ago, the city moved the center city airport to open farm land near the country club, then built a facility to house a small restaurant and garage space for airplane repairs. Since then, it has built four hangers which are at capacity with 42 aircraft, and there are another eight airplanes based there outside hangars. Hancock said there is a waiting list for more hangar space. As the airstrip is further improved, a corporate jet taxiway will be added leading to aircraft hangars built for the jets.

New fixed-base operator

Two new jet fuel tanks were built by the city and leased to its new fixed-base operation, Bolivar Aviation, which purchases the fuel and pays a fuel flowage fee to the city to help it pay for the cost of the tanks, Hancock said. Airport improvements were spearheaded by former Alderman Charlie Hendrickson, Hancock said.

Bolivar Aviation, owned by Jerry and Jackie Barnes, leases the building. The Barneses have renovated and redecorated the Plane Cafe with an airplane motif to make it a destination dining place for local residents and pilots who fly in to eat at the weekend buffet, said Rex Smith, airplane mechanic for the company.

"Saturdays can be pretty busy, especially if the weather is conducive to good aviation," Smith said. "People fly in here just to take advantage of the buffet. You know, pilots like to get in their planes ... have an excuse to go somewhere. They talk about the $100 hamburger ... because it costs a bit for gas and to maintain your airplane to get into it and go and have your hamburger."

But pilots are happy to fly in and fly out, he said. In fact, they do it in groups, meeting at the Bolivar airport and going to another airport or vice versa, "and have some chow before or after." Even on Sundays after church, local residents come with their children to the restaurant which is nonsmoking now, Smith added.

Bolivar Aviation also operates the mechanic shop that employs Smith, who offers light maintenance and tune-ups for light airplanes, as well as 100-hour or annual inspections. The shop also sells parts and other items needed by pilots.

Jerry Barnes also operates a flight school for about 20 students in different stages of development and conducts biennial flight reviews for pilots.

Midwest Aero and Auto

Hancock said there has been even more private commercial growth at the airport with the development of Midwest Aero and Auto Collision Repair, in its own metal building a short distance from the runway.

Co-owned by Springfield NASCAR racing legend Larry Phillips with Stan Showbe, Midwest has been in operation about a year and attracts airplane owners from a wide area, Shoube said. "The enhancements ... will attract people maybe looking to open a business or a factory," Phillips said. The airport improvements "have to help the city."

At Midwest Aero and Auto, "We refinish aircraft, do interiors and auto body repairs in the shop," Showbe said. Being located close to the airport is ideal because it attracts plane owners from as far as Tulsa and Kansas, he added. He believes the business is unique in this area. Midwest performs touch-ups as well as complete paint jobs and ding repair. It has just finished repainting a Seneca III black-and-white airplane for Paul Mueller Company, he said.

Some of the preparation work is different for airplanes, Phillips said, because they are made of aluminum and have to be completely stripped and then re-balanced. "Control surfaces (especially) have to be balanced. You have to put on as much as you take off." Airplanes left outside need to be repainted about every five to seven years, Phillips said.

The most exotic plane worked on at Midwest was a polished aluminum 1948 Swift, Showbe said. The company processes about two to three planes a month and about 10 cars.

City builds new library, ball fields

Besides the improvements at the airport, Hancock said the city recently finished a new library on the old airport.

The city also is developing nine baseball fields on about 40 acres using a 50/50 grant of $143,000 from the Missouri Department of Natural Resources.

Three of the fields and their lighting will be ready by fall, he said.

Bolivar also has received a $200,000 federal project impact grant for disaster programs and will use those funds to construct a concession stand to serve the ball fields that also will be a tornado safe house. Another safe house will be built in the city's elegant Dunnegan Park.

A nature trail into the woods will lead from the ball park parking lot, Hancock said. Much of the work on the fields has been in-kind from residents, led by former Alderman John Strunk, the city administrator added. Four of the fields "we did ourselves with our own crews it was quite a little project," Hancock said.