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| 1 | HOUSE RESOLUTION | ||||||
| 2 | WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of | ||||||
| 3 | Representatives wish to congratulate Airport Director Danny | ||||||
| 4 | Adams and the staff of St. Louis Regional Airport on receiving | ||||||
| 5 | the Illinois Reliever Airport of the Year award; and | ||||||
| 6 | WHEREAS, Civic Memorial Airport began operating in 1946 | ||||||
| 7 | with a sod runway and changed its name to St. Louis Regional | ||||||
| 8 | Airport in 1984; and | ||||||
| 9 | WHEREAS, St. Louis Regional Airport, classified as an FAA | ||||||
| 10 | reliever airport, has created more than 1,500 jobs with an | ||||||
| 11 | annual economic impact of $480 million; it has two runways | ||||||
| 12 | capable of handling a wide array of aircraft, allowing it to | ||||||
| 13 | serve a diverse set of clientele, including private aviators, | ||||||
| 14 | Fortune 500 companies, and regional aircraft maintenance, | ||||||
| 15 | repair, and overhaul customers; it averages over 80,000 | ||||||
| 16 | operations annually and pilots have a fast, tower-guided | ||||||
| 17 | approach with long runways capable of landing aircraft as | ||||||
| 18 | large as a C-5A or a Boeing 747; and | ||||||
| 19 | WHEREAS, Since September 2023, St. Louis Regional Airport | ||||||
| 20 | has built $8.5 million worth of improvements, which include | ||||||
| 21 | the Runway 17/35 rehabilitation, the South Apron expansion, | ||||||
| 22 | the T-hangar Taxilane reconstruction, and the Public Parking | ||||||
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| 1 | Lot rehabilitation; it has also undergone a $20 million | ||||||
| 2 | expansion through West Star Aviation's investment; after a | ||||||
| 3 | 15-year hiatus, it again offers professional flight training | ||||||
| 4 | through Piston Aviation Flight School, providing a high-demand | ||||||
| 5 | service; due to all of these projects, the airport has | ||||||
| 6 | experienced a 39% increase in air traffic over the last 12 | ||||||
| 7 | months; and | ||||||
| 8 | WHEREAS, St. Louis Regional Airport has gone from a single | ||||||
| 9 | sod runway to the 2,300-acre site it is today; despite changes | ||||||
| 10 | in ownership and name, the original Walston Aviation name is | ||||||
| 11 | still present in the field today and the original terminal is | ||||||
| 12 | being returned to aeronautical use after many years of serving | ||||||
| 13 | as a restaurant; and | ||||||
| 14 | WHEREAS, St. Louis Regional Airport is truly one of the | ||||||
| 15 | top general aviation airports in the St. Louis area and | ||||||
| 16 | Illinois today, and it continues positively impacting many | ||||||
| 17 | companies and people's lives in the great State of Illinois; | ||||||
| 18 | therefore, be it | ||||||
| 19 | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE | ||||||
| 20 | HUNDRED THIRD GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that | ||||||
| 21 | we congratulate Airport Director Danny Adams and the staff of | ||||||
| 22 | St. Louis Regional Airport on receiving the Illinois Reliever | ||||||
| 23 | Airport of the Year award, and we recognize all of the | ||||||
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| 1 | contributions by its leaders, employees, and community members | ||||||
| 2 | who have helped improve it over the years; and be it further | ||||||
| 3 | RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be | ||||||
| 4 | presented to St. Louis Regional Airport and Airport Director | ||||||
| 5 | Danny Adams as an expression of our respect and esteem for its | ||||||
| 6 | positive impact on travel in the State of Illinois. | ||||||