After 30 Year Wait, Rooks County Breaks Ground on New Airport
By Rick Bryant , Kansas Association of Airports

Stockton , KS --   The ‘Little Engine that Could’ would be very proud.

After three decades of starts and stops, the Rooks County Commission and its Airport Commission broke ground November 12 on the first all-new airport constructed in the state of Kansas in more than 20 years.  While not finished yet, the journey to build an all-weather airport in Western Kansas is nearing an end after more than 30 years.

During a ground breaking ceremony at Stockton City Hall , Airport Commission Chairman Chris Kollman shared the process the county experienced to get to this momentous occasion.

“Today is the culmination of 32 years work, by a lot of people, to bring an all-weather airport to our county,” he said during remarks at the ground breaking ceremony.

 “Years ago, Harold Clodfelty, county commissioner, started looking into putting in an airport, so Rooks County could fit into the FAA’s nationwide plan. The airport plan has been sitting on the shelf for 25 years,” Kollman said. “In 1978, Paul Hancock was part of a group that wanted an all-weather airport along with Barry Gilliland. If it hadn’t been for their vision, we wouldn’t be here today.”

The new Rooks County Regional Airport will feature a 5,000-foot concrete runway and 200 x 200-foot concrete parking apron. The new airport was designed by Bucher, Willis, Ratliff of Kansas City, MO and will include medium intensity runway lights, runway end indicator lights, wind cone, two-box PAPIs, and an AWOS. The project will cost approximately $6 million and was funded through the FAA’s Airport Improvement Program, which splits the cost between the FAA and Airport Sponsor on a 95-5 cost percentage.

While building the airport is only the beginning, the Rooks County Airport Commission has commissioned Airport Development Group, Inc., Lawrence, KS to work with the Commission to create a business plan that will encourage development at the airport, and generate revenue for sustainability.

 “We only get one opportunity to open a new airport and get the business end of it right from the first day,” Kollman explained.

Once opened the Rooks County Commission will close two turf single runway airports in Stockton and Plainville , and consolidate them with the Rooks County Regional Airport . The Airport Commission is looking for an opening date somewhere in August or September 2011 depending on construction progress.

Kollman said the starts and stops and uphill climbs reminded him of the story about the ‘Little Engine’ and a conversation several years ago at the FAA Central Region Conference in Kansas City with Jan Monroe, the Region’s Planning Director(now retired), about their efforts to build a new airport.

“As we visited about all the steps necessary to get this project moving forward again, I said something to Jan about the length of time that had lapsed between various stages and how frustrating it had become,” Kollman recalled.

 “Jan looked me in the eye and said ‘we don’t give up on communities. We know you’ll make it.’”

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Rick Bryant serves on the Board of Directors of the Kansas Association of Airports, and is the Marketing and Communications Director for Airport Development Group, Inc.