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The Future of Spartanburg's Downtown Memorial Airport

roads-scholar

By roads-scholar
in Spartanburg

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mainonmain
mainonmain

It's going to be a pretty dang cool park/playground. Will have an aviation/airport theme and a paved walking trail will be included. Will be very cool. Should be something that will pull people in not

roads-scholar
roads-scholar

Two views of the airports recently reconstructed runway. 

Spartan
Spartan

$165,000 is a heck of a deal to run an airport though. That's 'pennies' in terms of the city's overall budget. There's no reason it couldn't be self-sustaining if Spartanburg can continue to grow. $16

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westsider28 Town

westsider28

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Well, the airport's website has been updated with information about the runway extension.  As I feared, Airport Road will be disconnected.  It will end in a cul-de-sac south of the runway, and it will end at the junction of Ammons Road to the north (as seen in the picture below).  This is a big blow for connectivity in the area.  Wasn't there once a plan to make an airport entrance / road connection directly to Southport Road?  Kensington coming out onto Reidville so close to Southport is a nightmare for left-turners.

Runway.jpg

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roads-scholar Burg

roads-scholar

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15 hours ago, westsider28 said:

Well, the airport's website has been updated with information about the runway extension.  As I feared, Airport Road will be disconnected.  It will end in a cul-de-sac south of the runway, and it will end at the junction of Ammons Road to the north (as seen in the picture below).  This is a big blow for connectivity in the area.  Wasn't there once a plan to make an airport entrance / road connection directly to Southport Road?  Kensington coming out onto Reidville so close to Southport is a nightmare for left-turners.

Runway.jpg

Agree that turning onto John B. White from Kensington Road can sometimes be a challenge.

At one time there was serious discussion of relocating the airport's terminal entrance from Ammons Road to Southport Road.  However, once it was decided to rehabilitate the airport's 1936 terminal building rather than building a new facility the Southport Road idea was canned. 

I'd love to see Airport Road tunneled under the runway extension but I doubt that would ever happen.  The reality is there is very little traffic on Airport Road between Ammons and Carolina Drive. 

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westsider28 Town

westsider28

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I think there's an opportunity to connect Air Flow Drive (next to the SPARTA bus maintenance facility) to Venture Blvd, which connects to Southport Road.  The airport owns the land there, even what appears to be an existing ROW that connects to Venture Blvd. 

I'm just a huge proponent of connectivity (redundancy, parallel routes, grids, etc). We don't have enough of it around here, which causes traffic problems and a lack of accessibility/walkability.

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roads-scholar Burg

roads-scholar

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1 hour ago, westsider28 said:

I think there's an opportunity to connect Air Flow Drive (next to the SPARTA bus maintenance facility) to Venture Blvd, which connects to Southport Road.  The airport owns the land there, even what appears to be an existing ROW that connects to Venture Blvd. 

I'm just a huge proponent of connectivity (redundancy, parallel routes, grids, etc). We don't have enough of it around here, which causes traffic problems and a lack of accessibility/walkability.

Agree on the need for more connectivity but don't believe the airport area is a problem right now.  How about linking up South Pine / Union / Country Club Road with East Main Street?   (Okay, that's completely off topic!).  

Good idea to link up Venture Blvd and Air Flow Drive.

 

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Spartan Gigalopolis

Spartan

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On 5/17/2016 at 2:48 PM, roads-scholar said:

Agree on the need for more connectivity but don't believe the airport area is a problem right now.  How about linking up South Pine / Union / Country Club Road with East Main Street?   (Okay, that's completely off topic!).  

Good idea to link up Venture Blvd and Air Flow Drive.

 

Your right in that traffic isn't an issue right now, but the reality is if connectivity isn't incorporated into projects like this (where there's already construction going on, and they are modifying road alignments anyway) then it will probably never happen. 

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westsider28 Town

westsider28

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Figured I'd cross-post in this thread too.  Runway extension is set to begin, now that the "daylighting" of Butterfly Creek in the Northside has been approved.  The $25 million project includes lengthening the runway by 1000 feet and resurfacing the existing runway.  The project will start on June 20, will be done in 4 phases, and should be completed in late 2017.  Separately, the airport will also begin constructing a children's playground, with the city and state covering the $600,000 cost. (seems pretty expensive?)  Anyway, good to see this major project moving forward.

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westsider28 Town

westsider28

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Details about the Airport Park were revealed at a City Council workshop last night.  The park will be ~23 acres at the front of the Airport property (corner of Kensington & entrance road).  The park will include a sports field, 2 playgrounds, a "splash pad" (like at Barnet Park), picnic shelters, restrooms, and a walking path.  I think they were saying early next year for construction start (not 100% positive).  Looks nice!

Airport Park.jpg

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roads-scholar Burg

roads-scholar

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On 9/23/2010 at 6:32 PM, westsider28 said:

I found an update here on the Downtown Memorial Airport construction. They are currently doing some interior demolition in the terminal building to prepare for expansion. The article has some details about the expansion.

 

GSA Business article

My only quibble with the park is the location.  Its behind a couple of aircraft hangars and will make observing take-offs and landings difficult.  Perhaps observing airplanes was not intended but it would seem it should. 

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westsider28 Town

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That's true, but this is pretty much the only large, flat area at the airport.  Other than the old runway near the bus maintenance building, but I'm not sure if that land is usable for a park since there are hangars along there. City staff pointed out that the land the park will be on is elevated, so you can see part of the runway.  And people can go over to the terminal if they want to see the planes better.  Future plans to perhaps add mountain bike trails, etc to other areas of the property were also mentioned.

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Sparkleman Hamlet

Sparkleman

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On ‎6‎/‎28‎/‎2017 at 9:02 AM, roads-scholar said:

Airport park construction is now underway. 

http://www.goupstate.com/news/20170627/construction-underway-on-aviation-themed-park-in-spartanburg

A good use of this vacant land in my opinion. 

 

Any park is a good park and I wish we had more of them. This particular one is going into an area that sorely needs it. Good job Spartanburg.

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westsider28 Town

westsider28

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Checked the park progress over the weekend.  Looking good.  Seems like just the restrooms and spray-ground need finishing, for the most part.  If I had to guess when it opens, I'd say April?  But these things usually take longer to complete than I expect.  Photos below are spray-ground, younger kids playground & shelter, and older kids playground & restrooms.

IMG_1625.thumb.JPG.cbffbd83c8c852aa76b83e5d9588a130.JPG

IMG_1626.thumb.JPG.7649e7a158dfdf1ce03fe812cccb72bd.JPG

IMG_1627.thumb.JPG.816b01607a179db1e03426f422c1cad9.JPG

Also, City Council awarded the actual airport runway paving contract at Monday's meeting (now that grading is done), so that should be happening soon-ish.

Edited by westsider28
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