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About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 9, 1960)
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 8, 1960 S A MEDFOHD MAIL TRIBUNE. MEDFORD, ORB. IT rowing mo Aoirport T0 Plans (or Future Being Developed By City Officials By GREG NOKES Mail Tribun Staff Wrlfar nieaioras municipal air port is starting to suffer from an ailment common to most large airports In the United States today-it is growing too (mall. The airport has long been an object of local pride. It is the largest airport between San Francisco and Portland and boasts the finest terminal in the state, next to Port land's. Its future seems secure. It serves the entire southern Oregon northern California area and as long as it can meet the needs of this area, there is little danger that it will lose its status as an im portant link on West Coast air routes. One year ago the airport was large enough to meet these needs. During the past year, however, traffic has in creased at the airport to the extent that airplanes are hav ing difficulty finding adequate places to park. Runway Extension There is also a threat thai unless the main runway is ex tended, the airport will not be able .to accommodate the medium - range jet aircraft that the commercial airlines will eventually want to use here. ' Airport Manager Gil Gut jahr and the city administra tion are taking steps that they hope will alleviate the crowd eu conditions, and will pre pare the airport to meet the expanded needs of the future. An automobile parking area has just been completed and will be open soon; plans for an additional tie-down (air- ' ' 1 1. iM-r-riT ) ''mm"''''Mimvmmmi'mmM.iikmmn tmm ii.iji.un..,. L,'" 4$ -i v :' " "'-:---'-ma "' lM,,lMlIWItlHli iiMrtifnil im lmr ' nm t "- .JTwa ; r.i CRAMPED FOR SPACE Private hanzars ' at Medford'g municipal airport are crowded together north nf the mnln terminal. Several new hanears were erei-ted this vr bringing to 17 the total number of hangars now in this plana parkins) area are being drawn up; and the city is con sidering expanding the space mat will be available for han gar construction. An application was submit ted to the Federal Aviation agency a year ago seeking aid In extending the main run- area. Airport Manager Gil Gutjahr said plans are being made to provide for additional hangar space in an area south of the main terminal. mm Call SP 3-3645 303 No. Bartleft way. However, no word has been received on the applica tion's progress and Gutjahr says the hopes of getting this id in tne near future appear dim. Plans for Extension Plans are to extend the main runway 3,750 feet to the north. The existing runway is ,417 feet long. Cost of this extension and adjustment of related facilities is estimated at $1,618,000. Gutjahr points out that the airport, is presently large enough to accommodate any plane that it would now be conomically feasible for the airlines to want to use here. These include the Convair and the F-27 , prop-jet - However, as the traffic in creases and economic impor tance of this area grows, the airlines will want to use the medium-range jets here on a regular basis. These would in clude such planes as the French Caravel. . 1 The proposed extension II would make the runway long enough to handle these lets. but it is essential that federal aid be obtained if this exten sion Is to be financed, accord ing to Gutjahr. The federal government would not pay all of the cost, IB tmj -(,- h "it NEW PARKING During the past year the city has constructed an additional parking area in Xront of the main terminal that will be able to accommodate some 60 vehicles The addition to the airport of this parking mi mm mw area will alleviate a critical shortage of parking space for cars. All that remains to be done on the above area is striping before it will be opened. Oregon State Head To Retire in 1961 Corvallis - (UPD - Dr. A. L.1942 after serving five years Strand,' 66, President of Ore gon State college since announced Friday he will re tire effective next Sept. 1 to accept a position with the State Board of Higher educa tion. Strand's new duties will be announced at the board's next meeting in Monmouth Oct. 25. Strand, who reached the faculty retirement age last year, has been on a yearly basis as OSC president since that time. Starts in 1942 The resignation was an nounced early so that a suc cessor to Strand can be nam ed before the 1961-62 school year. An OSC faculty com mittee will nominate presi dential candidates and sub mit their names to the State Board of Higher education through Chancellor John R. Richards, administrative offi cer to the state board. Dr. Strand came to OSC in as president of Montana State college. He was the first Mon tana State alumnus to be come president of the school. Strand, OSC's 10th presi dent, will have served the third longest term of any president at the school, and will be short about a month of completing 19 years at the Corvallis institution. During Strand's tenure at OSC several additions were made in the school's curricu lar program. Oregon State has added a degree in business and technology, established Navy, Army and Air Force training programs, added a physical education major in the school of education, es tablished natural resource, oceanography and statistics departments, and this year for the first time OSC was authorized to grant liberal arts degrees in the schools of humanities and social sciences." 3 O us O o Quiet Dignified Chapel In The Trees 2100 Siskiyou Boulevard MEDFORD, OREGON Phont SPring 2-5488 Siskiyou Funeral Service In the event of the death of a loved one Notify !n this order Your Minister, Your1 Family Phy sician and your Funeral Director. One Call For All Funerjl Strvlca MORTUARY MAUSOLEUM GROUND INTERMENT CREMATORY COLUMBARIUM Hew"- " i-''--vl'-r!'ij Nil 4.: EXPANDS TO SOUTH Needed facilities at the municipal airport will be erected in the area pictured south of the main terminal.. Plans are to provide for a new tie-down area there, additional hangar space and an ex panded apron area for commercial planes. The tail of a Pacific Airlines DC-3 can be seen in the picture. Both West Coast and Pacific airlines have one each of these planes staying overnight at the airport which has further added to the space problem. Your credit is good Most reasonable funeral services.and cemetery 'properly In Southern Oregon All Within L1 Siskiyou Memorial Park JOE HOSICK LEW MILES 605 Highland he said, pointing out that as sistance granted by the gov ernment to airport projects averages about 44 per cent of cost. There is also the possi bility of obtaining some state aid, he added. However, this will leave a sizeable chunk of money to be raised by the city. Airport revenue last year was just over $50,000 not nearly enough to finance extension of the runway. The city's share will probably have to be raised by bond issue. Gutjahr holds little hope that the FAA will act on the city's application this year. because it Is almost out of funds to allocate cities under the airport assistance pro gram. It will require an act of Congress to provide addi tional funds, he said. The problem caused by the crowded conditions at the air port was brought out at Thursday night's council meeting during consideration of applications for two new airport tenants. Brian Douglass, owner of the Rogue Flying service, said the lack of tie-down fa cilities at the airport has al ready reached the "critical" stage. Douglass said he recently sold a private aircraft to a man and the man has not been able to find an adequate place at the airport to park the plane. Incrtaia Competition He said that he is not op posed to new tenants at the airport, but pointed out that the addition of every new tenant merely increases the number of aircraft competing for the existing tie-down fa cilities. The council approved the applications and directed that a study of the crowded con ditions be made. Gutjahr already recognizes this problem, however, and hopes that work will be able to start soon on construction of a new tie-down area south of the terminal, that will add from 10-15 airplane parking spaces to the 30 that already exist. Gutjahr estimates that ;9me 55 aircraft now use the air port as a permanent base. In addition there is an average of 12 "transient" aircraft a day seeking berths during the summer months. Transient aircraft are those planes that stay at the , airport only a short period of time. T h i commercial airlinei 'have also added to the crowd ed conditions at the airport. The three airlines that serve the local airport-United, Paci fic and West Coast have a cumulative total of 12 flights landing at and 12 flights tak ing off from the airport per day. Pacific and West Coast have further compounded the problem by using the airport as a terminus and starting point for one flight each and both of them have a transport plane parked overnight at the airport. The only available place to park these planes has been just south of the gate en trances to the main terminal. However, four tie-down spaces for small aircraft, lo cated in front of this area,' make it difficult for the big planes to maneuver into this improvised parking area and Gutjahr feels it may be neces sary to eliminate these tie- downs. Importance Noted The importance of the air craft to commercial airlines is shown by the fact that there can be as many as five air planes wanting to load and unload passengers at one time. To meet this increased use. I the airport has added an ad ditional gate for loading and unloading passengers, making a total of five gates, but there is need for even a sixth. A proposed extension of the gate area and apron space to accommodate parking by the larger planes, has been given high priority by the. airport management. This ex tension would occur to the south of the terminal. The increased use of the airport is evidenced by the fact that 22,526 civil flights were recorded at the airport during the first six, months of 1960, compared to 22,470 re corded during the first six months last year, . Greater Increase Commercial flights have shown an even greater in crease with 5,166 flights re corded during the first six months this year, compared to 4,330 flights during the same period in 1959. ' Other capital improvements having immediate priority are field fencing (portions of the field are not now fenced in); a helicopter landing pad; purchase of a $16,500 wind in dicator to replace the existing worn-out one; and an emer gency power plant. Another high priority proj ect is enlargement of the space available for hangar construction. There are now 17 hangars, some accommo dating more than one plane, grouped together to the north of the main terminal. Gutjahr said plans are to develop about eight "T" han gars, also south of the termi nal. Each of these hangars would be capable of accomo dating about 10 planes. Following extension of the runway, the second "major capital Improvement project is to expand the terminal. Built in 1954, the terminal is now "just right" according to Gutjahr, but it is anticipated that it will need to be ex panded by 1964. ' A preliminary plan, Gut jahr said, would be to add two stories south of the ex isting terminal. This addition al space would provide for an expanded lobby, an air freight area and office space for fed eral use.-Public restrooms, a new restaurant and lounge, have also been suggested for inclusion in the terminal ex pansion. The addition of the new parking area, able' to park ap proximately 60 cars, is ex pected to provide adequate auto parking facilities until the year 1964-65. ' . Gutjahr explained that these improvement projects can be done only as the funds are made " available. Some would be financed by the city alone and some would be done with federal and state aid, if possible. Although all of these proj ects, and several others, are listed as being -needed be tween now and 1965, there Is little possibility that all will be done by then, he said. Gutjahr is confident that the importance of the airport, both to commercial and pri vate airplanes, will steadily increase and he feels that the proposed improvements would make the airport ready for this increased importance. Need for Counselors Noted by Official Portland - (UPD - Dr. Daniel D. Feder, president of the American Personnel and Guid ance association, said here Friday that the shortage of qualified student counselors in the nation's schools is critical. Dr. Feder, on the faculty at Denver university, spoke to a meeting of counseling repre sentatives from throughout Oregon. Dr. Feder said that approxi mately 28,000 counselors were employed in secondary schools at the present time and that about half of this number were certified. He indicated the present need was about 71,000 coun selors. RAIL SPOKESMEN MEET Washington - (UPD - Labor Secretary James P. Mitchell conferred with railroad union and management spokesmen Friday on his proposal for .an impartial commission to study alleged union "featherbed- ding" and work rules chang- Both sides agreed to con tinue discussions with Mitch ell on Oct. 17. Only SONOTONE'S new eyeglass HEARING AID HAS ALL THESE FEATURES AUTOMATIC VOLUME CONTROL CONSULTANT'S FITTINGS rv sS v j s. 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