OTC to consider leasing airport terminal

And when Springfield-Branson National Airport’s new terminal opens in about a year and a half, it will be left with thousands of empty square feet.

One’s problem may be the other’s solution.

OTC President Hal Higdon and airport Director of Aviation Gary Cyr will begin discussions this fall about OTC leasing space in the airport’s old terminal, which will be unused after the new $119 million Midfield Terminal opens in December 2008.

Revenue producers

“Airports are always looking for ways to generate revenue that are not tied directly to aviation,” Cyr said in an airport news release. “Aviation revenue tends to be volatile – it goes up and down with airline economic cycles. Leasing the old terminal will diversify our revenue streams.”

A lease with the airport would include about 1,300 parking spaces at the terminal, according to the release. Any agreement would need to be approved by the governing boards of both OTC and the airport.

OTC Director of Public Relations and Communications Joel Doepker said it’s too early to speculate what OTC would use the space for but said it would allow the school to expand its technical and workforce development programs and relieve pressure at its Chestnut Expressway campus, which is at capacity.

“At our main campus, there’s not too many rooms that are available – we have serious space issues,” Doepker said. “Space would be welcome.”

Programs that could be housed at the airport include construction readiness, truck driving, information technology, agri-business and nanotechnology, according to OTC President Hal Higdon.

“I’ve got … what I call our dream list of programs we’d like to start if we were able to do so,” Higdon said.

Need for space

OTC has exhibited steady growth in recent years, spawning a need for a campus in Ozark that can accommodate about 2,000 students; classes began there in January. Meanwhile, total enrollment for the fall semester is up 3.4 percent from last year, when registration reached 10,000 students for the first time.

In particular, OTC has seen increased demand for its allied health program, which Higdon said turns “droves of students” away each year because of space constraints.

The airport could house the technical programs that currently take up space in OTC’s allied health building, freeing room to expand that program.

Doepker said if an agreement is made with the airport, OTC likely would not occupy its entire 150,000 square feet. He said the school may consider leasing additional space to rent out to other entities, as well.

And could the terminal’s unique facilities lend itself to an OTC aviation-training program?

According to Higdon, it’s not on the school’s radar, but he isn’t ruling it out.

“When we start any technical program, it’s based on demand,” Higdon said. “We would just have to see what the community wanted.”