EdFred
Taxi to Parking
We're closing the field down and putting up a Wal-Mart.
Just kidding.
I know some of you have been speculating on what the big news might be. No, we aren't paving the strip. No, we aren't putting in a navaid. No, we aren't getting an SIAP in there (yet). But what we are doing is this:
Number One
For those of you that have been into Prickett-Grooms you may remember a red brick building that sat south of the runway on the west end of the field. That building has been/is being acquired by my father and 2 other partners. The building was built in 1923 and served as a school until its closure about 20 years ago. The inside of the school will be renovated, redesigned, remodeled, and converted. After the renovation and conversion, there will be (the plan at this time) 8 townhouses for sale with direct access, of course, to the airfield. Units in the building will be two levels, and possibly a couple of three level units. Each of the two level units will be approximately 1000 square feet in size, and the three level units which will probably be around 1500 square feet in living space. Final designs for each of the units are incomplete at this time, and if people are interested in purchasing before construction begins on their unit, they can help design it how they would like it to be. I think the target is somewhere around $70-80,000 for the two level units and somewhere around $100k for the three level unit, but don't quote me on that. The plan is to keep them all under six figures.
Number Two
We are currently negotiating with the property owners to the east to acquire/lease the additional 750-800' of property between the end of the runway, and the road to the east in order to lengthen 10/28. We have been given verbal permission to "do whatever we need to" to make it safe, and prep it for official use, and this is already underway. Trees have been cut back, the scrub has been tilled under and flattened, and grass will be planted in the spring. We hope to have this agreement completed before May 1, but we shall see how it goes. Filling and prep on the west end, an additional 300', will start this summer or fall, and that 300' may be available for use in 2008. That 300' is the property of the airport, so it is just a matter of getting the work done.
Number Three
I have been contacted by a couple of parties regarding possible services on the field. An A&P is looking to relocate from the Lower Peninsula to the Upper Peninsula, and it looks as if he may wish to put a shop up at a field, and ours is being looked at as a possibility. The service station at the southeast corner of the field is for sale, and the party looking to buy the station has said that if the deal goes through, it's probable that they would start to carry 100LL depending on how much traffic starts to go in and out of there.
In less than two years we may go from abandoned and closed to a 3,000' fly-in community with fuel and services on the field. This does not even take into account the land we are going to parcel off and lease for the construction of hangars.
Just kidding.
I know some of you have been speculating on what the big news might be. No, we aren't paving the strip. No, we aren't putting in a navaid. No, we aren't getting an SIAP in there (yet). But what we are doing is this:
Number One
For those of you that have been into Prickett-Grooms you may remember a red brick building that sat south of the runway on the west end of the field. That building has been/is being acquired by my father and 2 other partners. The building was built in 1923 and served as a school until its closure about 20 years ago. The inside of the school will be renovated, redesigned, remodeled, and converted. After the renovation and conversion, there will be (the plan at this time) 8 townhouses for sale with direct access, of course, to the airfield. Units in the building will be two levels, and possibly a couple of three level units. Each of the two level units will be approximately 1000 square feet in size, and the three level units which will probably be around 1500 square feet in living space. Final designs for each of the units are incomplete at this time, and if people are interested in purchasing before construction begins on their unit, they can help design it how they would like it to be. I think the target is somewhere around $70-80,000 for the two level units and somewhere around $100k for the three level unit, but don't quote me on that. The plan is to keep them all under six figures.
Number Two
We are currently negotiating with the property owners to the east to acquire/lease the additional 750-800' of property between the end of the runway, and the road to the east in order to lengthen 10/28. We have been given verbal permission to "do whatever we need to" to make it safe, and prep it for official use, and this is already underway. Trees have been cut back, the scrub has been tilled under and flattened, and grass will be planted in the spring. We hope to have this agreement completed before May 1, but we shall see how it goes. Filling and prep on the west end, an additional 300', will start this summer or fall, and that 300' may be available for use in 2008. That 300' is the property of the airport, so it is just a matter of getting the work done.
Number Three
I have been contacted by a couple of parties regarding possible services on the field. An A&P is looking to relocate from the Lower Peninsula to the Upper Peninsula, and it looks as if he may wish to put a shop up at a field, and ours is being looked at as a possibility. The service station at the southeast corner of the field is for sale, and the party looking to buy the station has said that if the deal goes through, it's probable that they would start to carry 100LL depending on how much traffic starts to go in and out of there.
In less than two years we may go from abandoned and closed to a 3,000' fly-in community with fuel and services on the field. This does not even take into account the land we are going to parcel off and lease for the construction of hangars.
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