Winnebago County’s Aviation Committee wants to replace the aging Wittman Regional Airport terminal building with a smaller administrative building at an estimated cost of $5 million.
The existing, 30,900-square-foot building is in terminal condition. It needs a new roof, shows signs of foundation damage and costs $80,000 to heat and cool each year.
In spite of the building’s condition and the committee’s unanimous support for replacing it with a two-story 14,000-square-foot administrative office building, it’s unlikely to be approved any time soon. County Executive Mark Harris said two other Winnebago County Board committees will have to review the proposal before the full board considers the plan.
“By the time there’s a consensus on the type, size and location of the building and the design and cost estimates done, more than likely it’ll fall into next year,” Harris said. “But I think it will happen and I think it will save taxpayers money in the long run.”
Aviation Committee Chairman Bob Warnke said the estimated $5 million price tag includes demolition of the existing terminal building at 525 W. 20th Ave., site preparation and construction of the new building to house airport operations, equipment and conference space for community meetings.
“We’d like to set it up where we can block off the bottom floor so it would be more open for community uses like festivals and breakfasts,” Warnke said. “It’s not the main purpose of the building, but we want to get the community involved in it a lot more.”
Airport Director Peter Moll said the new building would eliminate passenger air service facilities that have not been used since Oshkosh lost passenger air service more than a decade ago. It would also shed office space in the terminal building that is leased to non-aviation businesses, although Moll said there’s a hope Hertz car rental would want to continue to operate out of the new building.
“Hertz is a benefit to the airport and the tenants here such as the fixed base operators — Air Oshkosh and Basler,” Moll said. “Anything else, we’d have to really look at the details. We’re not trying to build a Taj Mahal. This would be a very good, adequate-sized building for our needs.”
Plans for the building do not include space for the Greyhound bus station or the television production company located on the second floor.
“The bus terminal could arrange for its own building, but they’d have to make arrangements separate from this building,” Warnke said.
The terminal’s west wing, which houses Air Oshkosh, would remain standing, while demolition of the rest of the structure would open up high-visibility space for redevelopment.
“We want this new administration building to open up more area for hangars or commercial buildings,” Warnke said.
While the aviation committee agreed with Moll’s assessment, has already gained some opposition, with a number of supervisors questioning the need for a new building.
“You’ve got to expect that from a few people on the board,” he said. “But this is the only real economic engine Winnebago County has. We support more than 500 jobs. We bring more than $30 million into the community. This is not just for Oshkosh.”
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