Pauls Valley Municipal Airport Dedicates New Aircraft Hangar
By Sandra Shelton
Pauls Valley, Oklahoma — October 9, 2023, on a crisp fall morning, the community of Pauls Valley gathered to celebrate the expansion of aviation infrastructure at their municipal airport. The hangar project was a culmination of state, federal, and local initiatives to support the growth of the state’s aviation and aerospace industry. It was also a monumental day for the Oklahoma Department of Aerospace and Aeronautics. The hangar at Pauls Valley was the first hangar to finish construction from the agency’s inaugural hangar program that was launched in the fall of 2021.
The county seat of Garvin County, Oklahoma, Pauls Valley is located near the Interstate 35 juncture with State Highway 19, fifty-seven miles south of Oklahoma City in the heart of the fertile Washita River agricultural complex. Corn, wheat, hay, and cotton have been grown successfully in the region. With abundant feed available, cattle production is a major activity. Pauls Valley also hosts businesses catering to the petroleum industry as well as the logistics industry. In recent years the community has diversified its economy by recruiting manufacturers of plastics and other products.
At the height of WWII, the Pauls Valley Municipal Airport was constructed by the Auxiliary Navy for the defense of the nation and became one of the largest airports in the area. Since then, they have continued to build upon their aviation roots and expand to ever greater heights that embody their heritage. State Representative Tammy Townley, District 48, addressed the crowd saying, “Pauls Valley has an economic impact of $5.2 million on the local economy. It supports nearly 31 direct and indirect jobs for the community. I have to applaud the local community for undertaking a project like this during the height of the pandemic when there was so much uncertainty surrounding the aviation industry. It demonstrates that Pauls Valley’s aviation sector was resilient and will be propelled into the future with improvements like this one.”
Master of Ceremonies was Grayson Ardies, Executive Director of the Oklahoma Department of Aerospace and Aeronautics. Ardies led the event which included a prayer from Andy Davidson, with Compassion Church, the presentation of colors by Boy Scouts Troop 73, the Pledge of Allegiance with Mayor Jocelyn Rushing, and a special message from Lee Litterell with the City of Pauls Valley. Invited officials also include Speaker Pro Tempore Kyle Hilbert representing the Oklahoma House of Representatives, who said “Last year in the Legislature, we made the single largest investment in aerospace in the history of the State of Oklahoma, investing over $200M across various infrastructure projects to support the growth of this important industry.” He continued, “They say the sky is the limit, but not here in Pauls Valley.”
Other airport stakeholders that spoke included Reid Colley with the Pauls Valley Municipal Airport Board, Mitch Fortner, President & CEO, KSA Engineers, Inc., and Steven Bratcher, Oklahoma Department of Commerce.
In the fall of 2021, the agency announced plans to embark on a new voyage to further invest in the state airport system due to increased funding provided to the agency. This new funding allowed the agency to invest in hangars for the first time in over three decades. The hangar program was designed to ensure Oklahoma’s aviation infrastructure can meet the needs of commerce and communities across the state by allowing additional aviation businesses, new corporate aircraft, and more flight training opportunities to occur at airports across the system.
“This is a significant sector of our economy and many aviation and aerospace dreams start in small rural towns like this across the state. Though Oklahoma is known for our big aerospace industry players such as Tinker AFB, the FAA Monroney Center, American Airlines, and Boeing, it is the grassroots movement of aviation that started our industry back in the 20s and 30s and it is that same movement that continues to thrive right here, at airports and in new hangars like the one we are dedicating today that will lead this industry into the future.” said Ardies.
Total cost of the hangar and taxilane project was nearly $1.9M with almost $1M of that coming from the Federal Aviation Administration, $840,000 coming from ODAA, and $41,000 coming from the local community.