The concrete pads at the Los Alamos County Airport are ready for the new County-owned airport hangars. Photo by Kirsten Laskey/ladailypost.com
Stacks are pre-fabricated material are set to be assembled into hangars at the Los Alamos County Airport. Photo by Kirsten Laskey/ladailypost.com
By KIRSTEN LASKEY
Los Alamos Daily Post
kirsten@ladailypost.com
The Los Alamos County Airport has collected all the materials needed for a row of hangars. A giant square of pristine concrete and stacks of pre-fabricated material are ready for construction. It is anticipated that in November the hangars will be constructed, the electric installed and airport staff ready to begin renting the hangars to pilots and plane owners.
The new row of hangars will be the first ones the County will own. Airport Manager Dave Ploeger said all existing hangars are privately owned on land leased from the County. The County is constructing four new hangars in a row. The one of the north side will be a square and extend 60 feet by 60 feet. The other three will be T-shaped, he said. Ploeger added that the T-shaped hangars will hold three aircrafts and the square-shaped hanger may be able to hold more than one plane, depending on its size. Ploeger said the T-shaped hangars will be rented for $400 a month and the square-shaped hangar will be rented for $1,250 a month.
“It’s a greater source of income … and we look at it as a long range income producer,” Ploeger said.
Ploeger said the revenue from the rentals will go back into the airport budget. He said this will allow the airport to be more self-sufficient and not rely so much on funds from the County.
The demand is already there for the hangars. Despite not even being built, Ploeger said there is a waiting list for the hangars. Work on the hangars began six years ago. Ploeger said last year the Department of Energy built the concrete pad as part of its remediation project on the landfill at the airport. A contractor, Allied 360, is hired to construct the hangars, which is expected to begin in September. The hangars are made from pre-fabricated materials purchased from Erect-A-Tube, which was delivered to the County in July. Ploeger said the total cost of the project is approximately $260,000.
