Former Air Base Gets New Life as Airport, Business Park
Published Apr 15, 2006
More than 80 tenants, including Pratt & Whitney and Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, have moved into the former Plattsburgh Air Force Base.
When base closing announcements came in 1993, Plattsburgh Air Force Base officials thought their installation was poised to double in size, the result of a new Air Mobility Command strategy.
But the Cold War-era mission of the base was over, Department of Defense officials focused their plans elsewhere, and Plattsburgh residents entered a cold, new world of their own: Life with no base.
Surprisingly, there’s a happy ending a dozen years down the road.
“It is in retrospect – economically – the best thing that ever happened to the North Country,” says Garry Douglas, CEO of the Plattsburgh-North Country Chamber of Commerce.
The Plattsburgh Airbase Redevelopment Corp. formed in the wake of the Air Force’s departure, focusing its recruiting on aerospace, commercial freight and other industry. And though the Air Force’s presence and $149 million payroll are sorely missed, more than 80 private tenants have plugged the gap and a new Plattsburgh International Airport has emerged.
Among the tenants are aircraft engine manufacturer Pratt & Whitney; rail car maker Bombardier; Westinghouse Air Brake, which produces mass transit air conditioning; Wyeth Pharmaceuticals; and GSM Vehicles, a Canadian maker of hybrid taxicabs. Plattsburgh is 20 minutes from the border and 2 hours from Montreal.
“Most of our success has been tied to our being Montreal’s strategic U.S. suburb,” Douglas says. “We’ve been remarkably well-positioned. In fact, I don’t know how we would have accommodated the demand for industrial space from Montreal companies if we would not have had the air base available.”
More civilian jobs have been created than the base produced, and the impact of Canadian commerce in the area had doubled to $1.39 billion seven years after the base closed.
There’s more good news: A new airport terminal is being fully paid for by the Federal Aviation Admin-istration and Plattsburgh hopes to serve as the airport of choice for Adirondack destinations that are two hours or more from Montreal, Boston and New York.
Story by Gary Perilloux
Current Weather Conditions In Albany, NY (12205)
Cloudy, and 29 ° F. For more details?
Click here...
