By Cheryl Williams
Austin, Texas
CONTROL TOWER RIBBON CUTTING ARLINGTON MUNICIPAL AIRPORT
After all the dreaming, planning, managing and coordinating of so many details great and small; all the money, time, emotional support, labor, frustration, determination, patience and persistence required to complete this tower … we cut a ribbon. The ritual is probably connected to some ancient symbolic gesture that has survived to present day. While it may not look like much, the simple act of cutting a ribbon is powerful symbolism for our psyche. It is both a communal and personal celebration that invites people to shore in current success and hope for the future. And it is a way to stop and thank those who shored their labors in all these ways and more. So, since this ritual dictates that we talk first-then cut, Arlington Airport Manager Robert Porter kicked all the October 6 control tower ribbon cutting ceremony by welcoming everyone and explaining how the management of the control tower worked.
FAA CONTRACTOR TOWER PROGRAM
This program is a government/private industry partnership that has provided air traffic services since 1982. All federal contract controllers ore Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) certified and meet the identical training standards as FAA controllers; and FAA oversees all aspects of the program including operating procedures, tower facilities and security matters. Porter said, “The program funds the personnel cost associated with operating a control tower, which represents an approximate $450,000 annual savings to the City of Arlington.”
The tower has nine stories and stands about l 20 feet tall. It was designed by William B. Payne and Associates of Colorado, and constructed by a local construction company, Imperial Construction. Porter started by thanking the city’s Public Works Director Bob Lowry and Construction Manager Don Isaac for their help during the past three years on this project. Then one by one each speaking participant came forward with words of praise and encouragement:
“The tower is new but the controllers are not. We collectively hold over l 20 years of experience together. So, I want to assure the city and the airport that our mission here is safety and you are in good hands.” – Stan Clark, Arlington Municipal Airport Tower Manager, Robinson Aviation
“We’ve been trying for a long time to get this structure built. I would say much longer than since 1999. We owe a huge debt of gratitude to Congressman Joe Borton for his role in helping us make this tower a reality. This airport with the tower is o huge economic advantage for our city.” – Dr. Robert (Bob) Cluck, Arlington Mayor
“This addition to Arlington means an increase in our level of competition in the global marketplace. This addition here today expands our economic outlook for the future, and I am very grateful that this is in southeast Arlington.” – Robert Rivera, Arlington City Council Member ”
Although it plays a great role in economic development, safety is the number one reason this tower was built. With the length of the runway now, and the Instrument Landing System (ILS) going in next year, and this tower, the future is really very bright for this airport. It has been a joint effort between Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) Aviation Division, the City of Arlington, FAA and the help from Congressman Borton that has made this possible. But anytime there is a success at an airport, it only happens because the community is committed to that airport.” – Dave Fulton, Aviation Division Director, TxDOT
“It is astounding that this airport had 10,000 flights last month. Can you imagine what’s going to happen when the Cowboys get here and everything else happens! Come out here on a game day and you are going to have corporate jets wingtip to wingtip! I am pleased to be a part of this. I think the credit needs to go to FAA and TxDOT. This is going to be an important addition to Arlington, because I really do believe that this part of the Metroplex is going to grow and there is going to be more aviation traffic.” -Joe Borton, U. S. Representative, 6th District of Texas
TOWER DEVELOPMENT
As Porter gave me a quick tour of the tower, he explained that when you set up a tower according to the FAA, there is a minimum amount of equipment on the list that needs to be bought. But you are really not done because there are other things that you need that ore not on the list. A good example is that we get so busy we hire more employees. Then, Porter said, “You can’t just provide the four headsets the list says you must have because there are now seven people working and you certainly, don’t want to shore headsets that other people have had on their ears. So, you go ahead and bite the bullet and buy more. There are many other examples of these little expenses that keep adding up, and nobody tells you that up front. These are the kinds of things that other airport managers should know about when building o tower-the expense isn’t over when it’s over.”
The controllers have all state-al-the-art equipment such as digital touch screens, anti-static chairs and self-focusing binoculars. They are on duty from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. and rotate in and out in six-day work shifts. And, when these controllers’ ore on duty, they are seriously on duty. One of the towers’ requirements that I’m not sure would be all that effective wall speakers in the restroom so that whenever they ore otherwise occupied, they can still hear what’s going on. I just couldn’t help but wonder what they could do about it ii there was a problem while they are in there!
I was surprised to learn that the tower wasn’t just a big empty building with a viewing area at the top. Instead, each floor serves a purpose: 9th – Tower Cab/Catwalk, 8th – Toilet, 7th – Extra Storage, 6th – Break Room, 5th – Equipment Room, 4th – Training/Conference Room, 3rd – Manager’s Office, 2nd – Boiler System and controls for the elevator, and 1st – Fire Alarms and Control System.
Porter told me the tower was quite a challenge for him because all of his construction projects in the past have been horizontal. He explained, “I think the thing that made it so difficult was all the new things I had to deal with like the building permit process, fire codes and accessibility issues. The tower doesn’t have to be accessible for the handicapped as far as the international building codes are concerned. But, since we installed an elevator for the convenience of the controllers and maintenance and janitorial crews, the state agency, Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation ITDLR). said it must be accessible for the handicapped.” He continued, “That basically forced us to be accessible on every floor where the elevator stopped. And thank goodness for Michelle Hannah, Airport Planner, TxDOT Aviation Division. If it hadn’t been for her assistance and persistence with TDLR, we wouldn’t have even been able to get the variance we needed from the eighth floor to the tower cab which is beyond where the elevator stops. If we had not received the variance from TDLR accessibility requirements, it would have been a nightmare because of the changes they wanted to make in the cab and in the stairways. It was just something else!”
What a long process this has been according to Porter, “We started this project in 1999 before construction and equipment for towers were eligible for grants. And so we got in the Contract Tower Program first, and then, it was: what are we going to do to get some money? Our first grant was through the state and was 50-50, half state and half city. And, thanks to Karon Wiedemann, TxDOT Grant Management Director and Dave Fulton, TxDOT Aviation Division Director, every time the legislation changed and allowed us to get additional money, they amended our grant. Although we ended up with about a $1.375 million offset, our tower cost us about $2.2 million with everything.”
Porter indicated he was really pleased that the mayor, council and city management staff were all so pro-airport and pro-tower that they were very willing, from the very beginning, to pay 50 percent and more, knowing that obviously $1.1 million wasn’t going to cover it initially. So, he says, “It’s just been a wonderful ride, and thats why I’ve been here so long.”
So after all is said and done, for some reason, we must symbolically cut a ribbon. It is good for us. It is necessary. It helps satisfy our inherent need for closure and acknowledges the possibilities for the future. And, what an exciting future lies ahead for Arlington Municipal!
