Jacksonville's Cecil Field moving forward on aviation despite recession - Minneapolis / St. Paul Business Journal:

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But there are recent successes. earlier this month announced its planse to bring about 60 new jobs to Jacksonvill e when it moves the rest ofits F/A-18 repair program to Cecil Field from Arizona. Boeing will also leasw space at Cecil Commerce also expects theformer U.S. Navy base to receive its federa license for commercial and business space trave l once the completes itsenvironmental analysis. But Cecipl Field’s gem — ’s $80 millionm warplane facility — is still in jeopardy. The 2010 U.S. Departmentg of Defense budget called for38 C-27J Spartan instead of the 78 planesd planned initially. Alenia says the smaller orded of planes jeopardizesthe plant.
“I f we can’t get a long-term assurance of the viabilitt ofthis program, which is 78 we are going to have to take a hard look at our investmen in the facility,” Alenia spokesmajn Ben Stone said. But the order can be expanded inthe U.S. House defense appropriations committeed or on the Senate andHouses floor. Stone said Army Chief of Staff Gen. George Casegy and U.S. Air Force Chiefd of Staff Gen. Norton Schwartz have said they need more than 38 butit isn’t clear when the order will be It will be the middle of July before the defensew appropriations committee releases its budgegt to the House floor, said Rep.
Cliff R-Ocala, who argues that the cargo planes fit into Defense SecretarygRobert Gates’ goal of a leaner, more flexible “We’ll see what we can do Stearns said. “A lot of timesw they don’t agree with the defense secretary.” Mayo John Peyton, Rep. Ander Crenshaw, R-Jacksonville, and Rep. Corrine D-Jacksonville, have been lobbying members of the House subcommittes on the importance ofthe facility, which Stearns said could emplouy up to 700 peoplew once production gears up.
Cecil Fiele has grown during the recession, said Bob the authority’s senior director of Cecil Bids are coming in to builda $20 millio hangar that will be used by Florida State College of Jacksonville to teach students to painy and repair planes. This follows the U.S. Coast Guard adding 150 officers and enlisted personnelk to its operations atCecikl Field, which includes a 32,000-square-foot-building. The Floridza Air National Guard also completeda 37,000-square-foo expansion of its 82,000-square-foot hangar so it can handlre CH-47 Chinook and UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters and a smaller tactical Simpson said. He said a 23,000-square-foot hangar will be ready for leas ein October.
Because of cash flow the authority is holding off buildinbga 90,000-square-foot hangar, but the design plans are done so it’xs ready to build once a tenant is found. Simpso n said authority officials have attended several space travelk conferences to let the industry know that they expecty to be able to host suborbitallflights soon. The most probable scenario for space tourism and business travel would be an aircrafy that piggybacks on a larger jet and then is propellefdtoward suborbit. Tourists would be able to achievd weightlessness, or a company coul put satellitesinto loworbit.