Ozark airport expansion getting off the ground

More than the new midfield terminal project is keeping the Springfield-Branson Regional Airport Board busy these days.
In a bill passed at Springfield City Council’s March 21 meeting, the board received approval for a $906,085 grant to help reimburse the airport for the purchase of 151 acres of land south of Springfield for the construction of a general aviation airport in Ozark.
Springfield Director of Aviation Gary Cyr said the approximately $10 million airport project would be used for private planes rather than the commercial aircraft that fly in and out of Springfield.
Cyr said the new project could take some of the load off of the regional airport.
“I’ve maintained a waiting list of somewhere in the neighborhood of 40 to 50 people for hangar space at this location and have done that for the last 10 years,” he said. “The Ozark location is convenient with the growth that’s taking place in Christian County and in Greene County.”
The project, for which the board already has 232 acres of land, will be funded through state money for aviation projects. The new airport will be on the site of the existing Air Park South Airfield, southwest of the intersection of highways 65 and CC in Ozark. The board purchased the old airport, which is currently operational but is in disrepair, in December 2002, Cyr said.

In other news:
• Also March 21, council approved funding for the operation and maintenance of the Downtown Wireless Internet Pilot Program. The test project, estimated to cost about $18,000, offers free wireless Internet access in an area roughly bordered by Park Central Square, Park Central East past Jefferson Avenue, South Avenue to Walnut Street, Walnut Street to Jefferson and McDaniel Street past Jefferson, according to a city news release.
Funding for the project will be split equally among the city, the county and the Downtown Springfield Community Improvement District.
City Manager Tom Finnie said that Mayor Tom Carlson spearheaded the project.
“He had seen this in another downtown and really thought it was a positive marketing tool for downtown, so the mayor suggested we see if there was a way of doing it,” Finnie said. “Then (city Economic Development Director) Mary Smith worked with CU, the county and CID to actually get it done.”
The pilot program will last one year, at which time the city will assess the program to decide whether it should be expanded.
• Council heard a bill that would create the Springfield Master Redevelopment Corp. to provide an avenue for redevelopment projects to receive tax abatement and allow the city to acquire, construct, maintain and operate redevelopment projects. The corporation would assist in the clearance, replanning, reconstruction or rehabilitation of blighted areas and the construction of industrial, commercial, residential or public structures, including recreational facilities.
• Preliminary plat approval was granted for part of the downtown College Station development. The plat, bordered by College on the south, Olive on the north, Campbell on the east and Market on the west, is currently a city-owned parking lot. It will be converted into a multilevel parking deck as part of the planned development, which is slated for retail space, offices and a multiscreen movie theater.