New U.S. Customs going up at Erie-Ottawa airport

PORT CLINTON — Maybe someday soon, Erie-Ottawa International Airport will be able to boast the first fly-in Wal-Mart.It only makes sense, airport manager Stan Gebhardt says. The Port Clinton Wal-Mart backs up right against the airport property. If people from the islands could fly and park their planes next to the store, they could easily load up on provisions, while giving the airport more traffic.So far, top Wal-Mart executives in Arkansas haven't seen the wisdom of Gebhardt's idea."I've been calling them for a year," said Gebhardt as he drives a visitor through the airport to show off the latest additions and improvements. "I haven't gotten to the right person yet."But many of Gebhardt's ideas for expanding airport traffic have worked out fine.For example, Erie-Ottawa became an international airport in 2014 when U.S. Border Patrol opened up a new building nearby, allowing the airport to open a U.S. Customs Service office so that travelers from other countries can fly in to Ottawa County.To do that, the airport had to promise to give the U.S. government space for the Customs office, Gebhardt said.That's been temporarily taken care of in a trailer, but the airport is now building a new $800,000 customs building to welcome international travelers.Construction on the new building, about 40 feet by 44 feet, began about Sept. 15 and is expected to end in January, Gebhardt said. Telamon Construction in Sandusky is the general contractor, while the Poulos + Schmid Design Group, also in Sandusky, designed the building.Being able to offer a U.S. Customs office is an economic development tool, argues Gebhardt. He said only 379 U.S. airports are international airports, out of a total of 5,145 airports.In a global economy, that makes the Port Clinton-Sandusky area an attractive location for foreign companies, as foreign executives will know they can easily come and go, he said.The customs building isn't the only construction going on at the airport.A new entrance sign has gone up, replacing one that was 40 years old and that was "pretty tacky looking," Gebhardt said. It was built from recycled materials and funded by a grant from the Ottawa, Sandusky, Seneca Joint Solid Waste Management District.About 1,300 feet of taxiway at the airport is being rebuilt, at a cost of more than $600,000. Work is being done by Kwest Group in Perrysburg. The work is funded by an Ohio Department of Transportation grant.In addition, a new hangar, 80 feet by 125 feet, is in the final stages of construction."It's fully rented and it's not even inhabitable yet," Gebhardt said.Gebhardt became the airport manager in July 2011, taking over an airport that has about 400 acres and has both east-west and north-south runways.In recent years, Griffing Flying Service has relocated operations to the airport. So has Paratus Air, which operates helicopters.Air traffic has gone up in the last few years, Gebhardt said. Fuel sales, for example, have more than doubled in the last five years.The airport had 34 aircraft based on the property in 2011. It now has close to 100, and as additional hangars open, that number will grow, he said.In the summer 600 to 700 small planes came in every month, and 60 to 80 jets came in, Gebhardt said.The airport manager continues to explore ideas for growth."I think a commuter airline is in the future here," he said. "I think a small commuter will come in here at some point."A construction crew continues to work on a new customs building at the Erie-Ottawa International Airport in Port Clinton on Wednesday, Oct. 12, 2016. The building is expected to be finished in January.Cars drive past the Erie-Ottawa International Airport in Port Clinton as a Britten-Norman Islander aircraft descends to land on the runway Wednesday, Oct. 12, 2016.Paul Hofacker fuels an airplane before it leaves the Erie-Ottawa International Airport in Port Clinton on Wednesday, Oct. 12, 2016.Construction of a taxiway continues at the Erie-Ottawa International Airport in Port Clinton on Wednesday, Oct. 12, 2016.Brett Vermillion washes an aircraft at the Erie-Ottawa International Airport on Wednesday, Oct. 12, 2016, in Port Clinton.A new entrance sign welcomes visitors to the Erie-Ottawa International Airport in Port Clinton on Wednesday, Oct. 12, 2016.Airplanes sit at the Erie-Ottawa International Airport on Wednesday, Oct. 12, 2016, in Port Clinton.Aircraft mechanic Bill Hodgkinson works on reservicing a shock strip at the Erie-Ottawa International Airport in Port Clinton on Wednesday, Oct. 12, 2016.Paul Hofacker reels up the fuel hose while working at the Erie-Ottawa International Airport in Port Clinton on Wednesday, Oct. 12, 2016.