Eager to make the city more attractive for economic development, the Medford, Ore., City Council has approved corporate branding on the local airport control tower.
The council voted Thursday night to amend the city code to allow a sign measuring 25 feet by 25 feet on all four sides of the 100-foot-tall tower of the Rogue Valley International-Medford Airport, a landmark on the outskirts of the city. The vote came after a planning advisory committee expressed reservations.
"In a perfect world, we really probably don't like this kind of thing," said City Councilor Al Densmore. "Public buildings and public projects _ you kind of like them cleaner, without commercials attached to them. In this case, a lot of us have been feeling for some time that anything we do can do to help the economic prospects of our community is important."
Airport manager Bern Case said he has not been able to find another airport in the country that has branded its tower, but he expected that the 20 that own their own control towers, as well as others, will be looking at it seriously.
Allen Adamson, managing director of the global branding firm Landor, said the idea is "a no-brainer," and he expects many more airports to follow Medford's lead.
"This is like the first ballpark to put ads behind home plate," Adamson said. "I think it will become part of the fabric and landscape of airports going forward."
The name of the corporate sponsor remains a mystery. Case said he has been talking to a company in the aeronautics business that is willing to pay $3,000 a month _ $360,000 over the life of a 10-year contract _ to put its logo on the tower.
Case said he expects the logo to be up by spring and be seen by 1 million people a year.
Case said the revenue would reduce local landing fees by 15 cents per thousand pounds, helping to reach a goal of $3 per thousand pounds. He said lower landing fees will make the airport more attractive to new carriers _ there are now four _ and may result in lower ticket prices.
"Anyone who has gone to any economic development meetings understands that quality air service to their destinations really helps," Densmore said.
Densmore said he expected some complaints to arise as word gets out, but he noted that the city has already branded its sports park and a basketball court.
"Reality is that every inch of most airports is already covered by ads," Adamson said. "You can't get from check-in to the Jetway without being barraged by ads already. Putting them on the control tower is probably the best place. It's the flagpole of the airport."
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