ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, June 19, 1996 TAG: 9606190041
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-2 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG
SOURCE: KATHY LOAN STAFF WRITER
Three months after unveiling the new-and-improved Virginia Tech Airport, university officials are weighing the costs and benefits of a regional approach to running it.
Minnis Ridenour, Tech's executive vice president, told a town-gown group Tuesday an economic analysis will be conducted to gauge the impact of having two airports in the valley. The other terminal is the New River Valley Airport in Dublin.
In March, Tech celebrated its new $1.7 million airport terminal, which replaced a smaller, older facility. Then, officials emphasized the airport's economic development role, calling it the "gateway to the New River Valley."
Ridenour said officials from Blacksburg, Christiansburg, Radford and Montgomery County recently met "to explore how we might use the Virginia Tech Airport more as a community resource for economic growth and economic development."
Creating an authority or task force were both options mentioned in an airport master plan study completed last fall. The question is whether the benefits to the communities would balance the cost involved.
The 65-year-old airport is state-owned and has only one charter air service, but it serves more than Tech. Nearly one-third of its approximately 34,000 flights each year are business-related. It also sits across the street from Tech's Corporate Research Center.
During the last few years, improvements at the airport have included extending the runway, improving lighting, building a parallel taxiway and installing new equipment.
LENGTH: Short : 38 linesby CNB