Multitasking doesn't begin to describe Friedman Memorial Airport's major projects during 2007. Juggling eggs without dropping and splattering them was more apt.
The scope and magnitude of projects facing the Friedman Memorial Airport Authority and Airport Manager Rick Baird and his staff were unparalleled.
In looking back over 2007, Baird lists these as high points:
- Topping the list was the surge of emergency firefighting aircraft and giant helicopters arriving at Friedman to fight the Castle Rock fire, principally during late August. Landing and takeoffs at Friedman leaped from 6,087 during August the previous year to 8,196 in August 2007. Arrival of so-called huge Air Crane helicopters with their six-bladed, 72-foot rotors required special ramp parking to avoid damaging other aircraft with torrents of wind and tricky sequencing of other arriving and departing aircraft.
- Total removal and reconstruction of the airport's 6,900-foot runway in 30 days was a major feat. However, the authority approved a unique construction plan—recycling some 80 percent of the old runway on-site to eliminate trucking in all new materials. The strategy saved the airport some $2 million in costs and accelerated completion on schedule.
- A crucial step towards finding a site for a new airport to replace Friedman was taken when the Federal Aviation Administration approved more than two years of public hearings and studies by Friedman officials and awarded a $2 million-plus dollar contract for an Environmental Impact Statement study to consultants Landrum & Brown. The EIS project, which will take at least two years, eventually will lead to a recommended site for a new airport.
- Because of how the Fourth of July holiday fell in the month and the almost simultaneous scheduling of Allen & Co.'s annual gathering of hundreds of media titans, Friedman experienced a burst of air traffic, from small recreational general aviation planes to large corporate VIP jets. The normal July traffic volume of 5,000-plus aircraft soared to 7,398 in July 2007, placing a premium demand on ramp parking space as well as taxing control tower operators to their maximum.
All else seemed routine, including remodeling of the passenger terminal, reissuing hundreds of security clearances and badges for airport workers and removing and storing thousands of tons of snow to keep the airport open.
