The City of Pueblo hopes that if it builds a hangar, aviation jobs will come.
Pueblo city manager Dave Galli wants to build a 22,500-square-foot hangar at the Pueblo Memorial Airport to recruit aviation-related businesses. The project will cost about $3.8 million, including $1.6 million for the first hangar and $2.2 million for infrastructure for the site, which can accommodate up to four hangars.
The City Council already has agreed to spend $3.2 million on the project. Galli plans to seek approval in March for a construction contract and an additional $600,000 to meet the full $3.8 million cost. If approved, the hangar could be completed by mid to late summer this year, he said.
Many airports offer such facilities, said Jim Spaccamonti, president of the Pueblo Economic Development Corp. And it’s not unusual for Pueblo to build speculative buildings, he said. This would be the city’s first speculative hangar designed to work more quickly and efficiently with aviation businesses.
The funds for the Pueblo hangar come from a half-cent city sales tax earmarked for capital expenditures that attract jobs. The half-cent tax was first approved in 1984, after unemployment rose to more than 20 percent when CF&I Steel laid off hundreds of workers.
“Pueblo has gone through some fairly severe economic times over the years, and as a consequence we have tried to diversify our employment here,” Spaccamonti said. “There was a time when we relied on one industry, and that was the steel industry.”
Galli thinks aviation-related businesses will be drawn by the airport’s runways and taxiways, good weather and the “lack of congestion” due to limited airline service.
“This is an opportunity to create some jobs, and we’re hoping (for) some good-paying jobs in this industry,” Galli said.
Pueblo officials hope one of the town’s existing aviation businesses – Centennial Airport-based Adam Aircraft’s facility in Pueblo – will continue to bring jobs.
Adam Aircraft president Joe Walker said the company’s current plan is to use Denver and Ogden, Utah, facilities for final assembly of its A700 aircraft, while making boom and vertical and horizontal tails in Pueblo.
Pueblo officials also have been promoting their airport at aviation conferences. Spaccamonti said companies have expressed a lot of interest in locating or expanding their business into southern Colorado.
“Because of growth in general aviation, we think it’s a growth industry that we should not only be involved with but seeking companies out that need to expand,” Spaccamonti said.
Staff writer Kelly Yamanouchi can be reached at 303-820-1488 or at kyamanouchi@denverpost.com.
