Community members joined Ozark leaders and local and state dignitaries to celebrate the grand opening of a new terminal at the Blackwell Field Airport, Thursday morning.
The project has been almost 16 years in the making.
City leaders expect the addition to be a great help to the economy, bringing more high paying jobs to Ozark.
The new state-of-the-art general aviation airport terminal is designed for corporate aviation traffic.
Aviation companies will be able to fly aircraft in and out. They will also be able to house planes and helicopters at the facility.
“This is a great day in Ozark. Today it is the beginning of a great opportunity to advertise the airport, giving it a visibility on Highway 231 is something we’ve been needing for a very long time. It definitely shows the progression the city is taking and the interest they’re taking in aviation,” said Stephanie Blankenship, airport director.
The Friends of Army Aviation is one organization taking advantage of the new terminal.
“We’re basically in the process of building our own Uh1 helicopter, which we hope to have flyable by the first of January 2017…to be able to go out and reach out to the public and allow them the opportunity to fly in a legacy aircraft and to have a better understanding about how the aviators in Vietnam performed their duties and some of the maneuvers we had to do to evade the enemy,” said Doc Holladay, Friends of Army Aviation President.
Blankenship says there are several prospective tenants looking to use the new terminal. An announcement could be made soon.
The next big day airport officials are looking forward to is fueling aircraft at the terminal. The Ozark Blackwell Field Airport is partnering with Shell aviation to provide fuel for aircraft. A date has not been determined.