WATERTOWN — Moments after the ribbon-cutting at Watertown International Airport’s new business center Friday, a jet plane roared down a runway and took flight over the airport — a well-timed sound-off to the airport’s latest addition.
The new Fixed Base Operator will provide a new place for traveling businessmen and -women to hold meetings and conferences. The 19,000-square-foot facility contains new administrative offices, a conference center and a hangar.
The business center also is constructed to be sustainable and is equipped with a specialized roof to provide natural lighting and minimize heat.
Besides the ribbon-cutting, the ceremony had a second purpose: the center’s dedication to the late Mary C. Cox, a Watertown aviator who served as a pilot in World War II.
To James C. Cox, one of Mrs. Cox’s four children, naming Watertown International Airport’s new business center after his mother is recognition she has long deserved.
“It’s hard to put into words how wonderful this place is and how proud she would be, as humble as she was.” Mr. Cox said.
Mrs. Cox served in the Women Airforce Service Pilots, or WASPS, during the war. When she returned to Watertown, however, Mr. Cox said, the role she played, along with many other women of the WASPS, was mostly forgotten.
Following the war, Mrs. Cox was a flight instructor at the airfield near Dexter that would later become Watertown International Airport. Mrs. Cox died in 2009 at age 85.
Philip N. Reed, chairman of the Jefferson County Board of Legislators General Services Committee, said the new business center is just a piece of the airport’s effort to create a self-sustaining source of revenue to cut costs and to benefit the county economically.
“We have cut operating costs in half by building an enterprise fund,” Mr. Reed said. “Now that we have the state of the art FBO facility to add to our inventory, we will be able to attract more business and increase fuel sales and hangar fees, which should reduce costs to local taxpayers.”
From 2008 to 2014, Mr. Reed said, airport enplanements grew from 3,000 passengers to more than 18,000 per year. Enplanements account for only the number of outbound passengers who board an aircraft at a specific airport. Mr. Reed noted that total passenger traffic from 2008 to 2014 grew from 5,000 to 39,000 per year. The Federal Aviation Administration grants $1 million in funding to airports that exceed 10,000 outbound passengers per year. Mr. Reed said the money will help contribute to the airport’s growing enterprise fund.
The FBO is the latest of a few projects the airport has in store for the rest of the year and beyond. Airport Manager Grant W. Sussey said construction will begin soon on a new terminal expansion, which will create more room in the passenger screening area. A runway expansion will be completed sometime before 2016, allowing larger aircraft to use the airport in winter conditions.
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