With the recent additions to the Vero Beach Airport service lineup, all eyes have been on the Treasure Coast Airport in St. Lucie County as they continue their search for an airline to make landing. Erick Gill, the county's communications director, said that the county has recently been taking big steps to getting the airport in tip-top shape.
"So we are still doing some renovations to the terminal building as well as the parking lot. We should have those completed by the end of the calendar year, hopefully. But all the while that is taking place, we are still having active negotiations with several airlines about offering commercial service," he said.
The county believes that once the airport is up and running, it will bring a major boost to the area.
"Having a commercial service creates a number of benefits, not just for the county, for the residents as well. It would be increased revenue at the airport with additional leases, additional job opportunities out at the airport working in that industry. We could also potentially see, once commercial service is established, other developmental projects at the airport that you see at other commercial services," he said.
St. Lucie County Commissioner Cathy Townsend recently announced in a weekly podcast from the City of Port St. Lucie that getting an airline isn't the only thing they're working on.
"We have had the staff and individual commissioners have had discussions with different developers about bringing in a hotel. We have not received any formal applications or conceptual designs of what that would be or where that would be located. At this point, different developers are looking at what the lease agreements would be, what could be allowed as far as base and height-wise, what's available. So nothing has been finalized at this point. Anything that would be developed there would have to go before the Board of County Commissioners for a full vote and review process," he said.
A hotel, Erick says, is a major asset to any airport.
"With a lot of commercial service airports, there are hotels located close by the premises just because weather's unpredictable, especially in Florida. So flights get delayed. Sometimes tourists either coming or going may need to spend the night somewhere. So it makes sense to have a hotel close by or right there on the airport property for those travelers that may get delayed due to weather, whether that's here or whether the weather impacting their destination where they're traveling to," he said.
Erick says that while not much is definitive yet, they are hoping to have construction at the airport done by the end of the year as they continue to search for the right contracts.
"So it'll depend on whenever we get the right agreement and the right partner that's willing to come to the table with plans and the board is comfortable moving forward with those plans. Our staff is just focused on making sure we get the terminal ready and the parking lot ready to handle that service because we want to make sure once we do start having commercial service, that it's a seamless process for our visitors and those operating out of our airport," he said.
Erick also noted that there is plenty of room for expansion at the airport.