The Key West citizen. [volume] (Key West, Fla.) 1879-current, 1938-05-21
DON'T FORGET THE AIRPORT
This is National Air Mail Week!


And if the citizens of Key West are
thinking of anything else besides the COM
ing election, they are certainly thinking of
the proposal for WP.A municipal air.
port to be erected, possibly, adjacent to
the Key West Golf Course on Stock Island.
The privately owned Miami-Key West
airways airport at the East Martello Tower
is the southemmost airport in the country,
but Key West does not boast the southern
most municipal landing field in the coun-
try. That honor goes to little Marathon, up
on the Keys, which has recently had land
ing strip laid out adjacent to the Overseas
Highway.
Figures requested at the WP.A. of
fees by The Citizen show that Florida has
had 80 W.P.A. airports approved by Presi-
dent Roosevelt, of which 80 are already
completed. This is in the period only from
1888.
Most logical place for the airport will
probably be the land adjacent to the Golf
Course. Rough estimates reveal that mari
fills 900 feet long should be built to make
the airport available to seap planes \and am
phibfahlss Qllsstthe water side,aeand that two
marfs ruRways, each {, 500 feet an, length,
be.run on ,airpertasite. These naIways
will probably head into the northeast and
southeast as from those direetionss come
t..
the prevailing winds necessary for take
offs. Only 100000 cubic yards of mari fill
will be required for this program.
National airmail week has shown that
air mail, air express and air passengers are
on the increase, and Key West is as air
minded as other cities More so, it is in
position to realize the benefit of wings to
the Florida mainland, the other states, and
wings to the south over the ocean to Cuba
and South America. That more planes will
come into Key West with municipal air
port, many pilots who come here have de-
clared
1t is quite definitely known that
another aviation company will make regu-
lar trips here. Private planes will make
the trip here more often because of lower
rates on municipal field. These two fac
tors will eventually make the project self
liquidating to the 20 percent or even less
of actual cash that the city will advance
under Works Progress regulations.
There are numerous other advantages
of having a city-owned airport and they
are all in the line of the .'new-progress,
which in these days Of invention is more a
magic wand materialized than ever before.
The Citizen is glad to hear that num-
Der of city officials now are investigating
the possibility of establishing the airport
It wishes only to bring out to these then
that the eyes of the Key West public are on
them. that they request consideration of the
project does not lag, as it often has before
for various reasons and that conclusion be
soon reached to sponsor the airport.
That the city CAN sponsor it for very
little cost is known. That the airport will
probably soon pay back its investment is
just about certain. And the city may enlist
other agencies in The fight for IT, it, gal
liant fight for an Overseas Highway years
ago--7a visionary dream then! now an ac-
tuality-shows how things may be accom-
plished.
The Citizen and the people of Key
West are watching every move from now
on with interest.