BROOKSVILLE -- Don Silvernell took a walk through the under-construction, 80-foot control tower at the county airport Tuesday and liked what he saw.
The carpeting leading up to the high aerial perch is done. The gas lines are installed. The painting is finished. Even the wide windows in the cab section on the top (where the air traffic control operators will sit) were clean, allowing the airport manager to see far and wide over the runways and surrounding area.
"It looks like it's pretty much finished up to me," Silvernell said.
Silvernell said engineers and the tower design team will walk through the structure this week and check off punch list items.
"If they find anything they don't like, they hand it to the contractor and he has a month to finish those items up," Silvernell said.
The elevator leading to the control cab will be installed later. The Federal Aviation Authority also has to schedule a time to install its equipment.
Silvernell is still looking at getting the control tower operational by July.
The $2.25 million project is being funded jointly by the Florida Department of Transportation and Airport reserve funds. The project contractor is Peter Brown Construction Inc.
None of the cost of the control tower will come out of the county's general revenue fund. The FDOT money comes from aviation fuel taxes, not gas tax money motorists pay at the pump. The airport capital reserve fund comes from airport leases and other sources such as licensing agreements.
Meanwhile, Economic Development Manager Mike McHugh said he is still working on the feasibility of installing a WiMax antenna inside the airport complex — perhaps on top of the new control tower — enabling anyone from within a three-mile radius to receive a signal and facilitate high-speed Internet connections.
The WiMax antenna would allow homeowners and businesses to access the Internet for free.
Before placing the WiMax antenna atop the control tower, Silvernell said the county would have to receive a determination from the Federal Communications Commission and the FAA that its signals would not interfere with the tower's radio gear used to guide aircraft.
Silvernell said WiMax would be a huge benefit to tenants at or near the airport industrial park complex.
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