Witham Field Debuts Aviation-Themed Playground

The youth at a small Florida airport are being turned into aviators one slide at a time at the new Outdoor Aviation Education Center. The area features an entire aviation-themed playground, a picnic “hangar,” and everything else needed to get the next generation started.

The center is located at Witham Field (SUA) in Martin County, Florida. It features a vibrant aviation-themed playground complete with airplane-shaped equipment and a climbing structure designed to mimic a control tower (is there an age limit? Asking for a friend…). There’s even a picnic “hangar” large enough to host two busloads of field-tripping kids.

But this isn’t just a play area—it’s a hands-on aviation classroom. It has educational panels scattered around and along the walking path to teach kids about the world of aviation, with QR codes providing audio guides for accessibility. It also has a paved area painted to look like a real runway.

“We’ll be able to walk a child in as though they were landing on that runway and explain to them what those markings mean,” explained Ted Astolfi, CEO and President of the Economic Council of Martin County.

The aviation excitement in Wilson County isn’t new. JD Parker School of Technology already features a flight simulator in its curriculum, and the new education center builds on the county’s goal of creating an aviation career pipeline. The vision takes students from elementary fun to middle and high school CTE programs, culminating in the currently under-construction REACH Training Center at Witham Field.

“There’s nowhere to watch planes take off and land in Martin County,” stated Astolfi. “How do you expose those kids to aviation? You need to get those kids to the airport, and so this does it.”

The project was funded by the SUA Aviation Fund and community donors. With a groundbreaking ceremony in March 2024 and a grand opening celebration in December, Witham Field’s Outdoor Aviation Education Center is ready to take off.

"We want to bus in children from public school, charter school, private school, home school," Astolfi said. "We want them to come here and learn about aviation and aerospace."

FMI: www.mceconomy.org/in-progress