KSPA Gets $4.4 Million Facelift To Terminal, Hangars

The small city of Spartanburg, South Carolina is touting an upgrade to its downtown general aviation airport as a sign it's friendly to business and ready to move forward. The $4.4 million renovation includes a makeover of a terminal building which opened in 1935, and now features warbird artifacts and a floor decor with a runway theme.

Significantly, this is not KGSP, the commercial airport, but KSPA, Spartanburg Downtown Memorial Airport (city photo), and the city seems to be openly courting the business aircraft targeted for derision by political panderers elsewhere. City and business leaders give much of the credit to Airport Director Darwin Simpson, a former chemical company executive who took on the director's job for a salary of one dollar a year. Simpson says of the improvements, “It was imperative for us to make this airport business friendly. When you come here and you want to meet with customers, you can do it right here.” To that end, the new terminal building has three conference rooms.

South Carolina is a right-to-work state, meaning union membership cannot be made compulsory, and the overall business-friendly climate has attracted businesses such as BMW to Spartanburg, and Boeing to the Charleston area.

Some of the artifacts used to decorate the renovated terminal building came from Warbirds, Inc., which is located on the airport. Commanding Officer David Fudge calls the runway motif of the floor a nice touch to a beautiful building. He tells the Spartanburg Herald-Journal, “The airport is certainly a shot in the arm for the city. It's such a positive project, even in these tough economic times. To get this done when Darwin and the city did, it certainly speaks highly of them.”

The FAA and the state contributed funding to the renovation project, which includes the addition of additional T-hangars, bringing the total at the airport to 46. Spartanburg Downtown Memorial Airport claims 140 based aircraft and nearly 69,000 operations annually. There will be a public open house at the airport starting at 1100 EST November 17.

FMI: www.cityofspartanburg.org/index.cfm?PageID=41