After years of debate and discussion, the committee appointed to exploring the possibilities and options of what to do with the Stapleton control tower have made their decision. The tower will be renovated and once again used as a control tower. “We just went with the principal of Occam’s razor,” said committee chairman Darcey Chase. “The most obvious answer had been sitting right in front of us all along. It’s a control tower. Let’s use it as one.”
The area around the tower is currently being renovated and will serve as a runway for small non-commercial aircraft and a helipad. “We will allow some smaller package delivery planes to land, but the majority will be for the recreational pilots here in Stapleton,” says Chase. “There are already talks of Stapleton realtors chartering flights to show prospective buyers the layout of the land, and the location of available houses.”
Residents in the North central Park area are not as excited. “We probably wouldn’t have purchased a home right next to a small airport,” says homeowner Chris Hays. “We at least would have pushed for a better deal.” The airport will also affect SMIS as well, but school officials are viewing it as a positive. “We already have a lot of advantages over other schools,” says principal Vogel. “Now, with immediate access to airplanes, we can give our kids greater experiences, and even take field trips that previously would have taken 10 hours, we can now do in two.”
Although the tower is pretty much staying as is, renovations will still cost about eight million dollars, and should take about seven months, including creating some hangars and the landing strips. Those wishing to apply for space in the hangars should contact Forrest City President Phil Dargossi at pdargossi@stapletondenver.com.]]>