Zelie airport undergoes big changes
FRANKLIN TWP, Beaver County — The Zelienople Airport has undergone a major makeover, making it unique to not only the area, but the state, officials say.
The airport has had extensive renovations this year including tearing down almost all of its old hangars, installing new infrastructure and building new hangars that have nearly tripled its capacity for aircraft.
Construction has been going on since November 2013, airport manager Dave Holman said, but planning dates back to 2006.
The renovations, when done, will include 10 new private hangars with a capacity of 110 aircraft; a new maintenance building and wash rack; public restrooms with sewer service, and 250 parking spaces.
In a few years, the airport has plans to build a new administration building and restaurant close to Route 588.
The airport's private hangar area is unique for both its infrastructure and hangar lease program, Holman said.
The new private hangars have hookups for water, electricity, cable and Internet, while the old ones were essentially “shacks” with no amenities, he said.
Rather than building hangars and leasing them, the airport leases the land and allows the lessee to build and manage the hangar — within the specifications given by the airport.
“No one in the state of Pennsylvania has a program like this,” Holman said. “We have land; we don't want to be in the hangar business. The free market takes care of it.”
Most of the existing tenants agreed to move into new hangars before their buildings were demolished. Demand has been high for the new spaces.
Despite not promoting the new facilities, the airport has leased all but three building spaces, and anticipates the final three will be leased soon, Holman said.
The airport got several grants from the state and the Federal Aviation Administration totaling about $3.5 million in the past couple years. The grants have paid for the new infrastructure while the construction of the hangars is paid for by the tenants.All this work is being done on the same 244 acres the airport has used for years, though it recently acquired additional land to the north and south to remove potential obstructions from airplanes landing.Ralph Geis, who is on both Zelienople Borough Council and the airport authority, said the airport has a positive impact on the community.“We want to make sure it's going to be one of the nicest small airports in the area. Hopefully we will have people fly into the airport and come into Zelienople to shop,” Geis said.The airport is in a position to be prosperous due in part to its location, Geis said. Its proximity to Interstate 79 and several state roads makes it ideal to serve Zelienople, Cranberry Township and Pittsburgh, he said.Aside from the recent grant for renovations, the airport is self sufficient and does not get an annual donation from the borough.But the borough did give $24,000 to the airport several years ago for its public restrooms, but it has not been directly involved with the grants, borough manager Don Pepe said.The airport is a public general aviation facility run by a five-person board appointed by borough council.Holman is the airport manager and runs Pittsburgh Jet Center, a private company that manages the whole airport and provides maintenance, refueling and charter services out of its two hangars.Pittsburgh Jet charters planes to most locations in the United States as well as Canada, the Caribbean and other destinations. It has a staff of 31.The airport has two runways, the longer one is 4,933 feet long. On average, 66 aircraft use the airport every day, according to data collected by the FAA.The general aviation portion of- the airport includes both business and recreational aircraft. One hangar has helicopters, while the Cobra Aero Flying Club, a recreational group, has its own building where it houses a fleet of six planes.
