The Squamish Municipal Airport is receiving a cash injection for its new Don Patrick Field runway.
The District announced on March 18 that it has received more than $600,000 through the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure B.C. Air Access Program (BCAAP) for the reconstruction.
The BCAAP provides funding to help airports improve infrastructure and environmental performance.This year marks the 50th year of airport operations.
The airport’s Don Patrick Field runway was so-named after Squamish aviator Patrick on June 16, 2020.
Patrick told The Chief he was shocked to receive the honour.
“It was a total surprise,” he said of the day he was at an airport gathering when the naming was announced.
“I was there having a doughnut with everybody else.... It knocked my socks off.”
Patrick is a 50-year Squamish Flying Club member who led the airport’s operations until its transfer to the District in 2002.
The club currently has 66 members.
Patrick stressed that he was just one cog in the machine that has played a role in the airport over the years.
He didn’t want people to think he was some “guardian angel” of it, he said when so many others were involved.
Patrick said the runway is definitely in need of a facelift.
“It has needed a new runway for many years. It is beautiful land, very stable, but that asphalt has just been patched and patched.”
Work on the runway is expected to be done by the end of this spring.
According to the District, the $800,000 project was 75% funded by grants.
“Our airport is a critical piece of emergency response infrastructure and one that we would rely on heavily in the event of a major emergency or evacuation,” said Mayor Karen Elliott in a news release. “Having a well-functioning airport is also essential, and this project will ensure a safe and efficient airport environment for all of our airport users and passengers. We wish to thank the province for this funding to support these much-needed upgrades that will improve both the quality of our airport and our long-term resilience in the wake of an emergency event.”
The airport is considered critical emergency infrastructure in the Sea to Sky Multimodal Evacuation Plan.
It is a general aviation airport that supports “medevac and wildfire operations and response, flight tourism, and emergency operations, including the transportation of emergency personnel, supplies, and those who are injured or at immediate risk.”
Flying forward
President of the Squamish Flying Club, Warwick Patterson, told The Chief he appreciates the District’s attention to the airport and hopes it is a sign of things to come. “We definitely want to express our appreciation for the District and the council for recognizing the importance of the runway and the airport. It is a hugely valuable asset for the community. Not just for its emergency access but [also], a lot of the Search and Rescue missions fly out of there, [there are] job opportunities and employment out of there.”Patterson said he estimates about 50 people work at the airport.
He said there are about 30 club-members aircraft parked at the airport and a waiting list of other owners wanting a space.
“We are definitely maxed out on the apron,” he said.
The club has a stipulation that only residents of the Sea to Sky Corridor can be regular members.
This is to ensure those who belong to the club are tax-paying locals.
“We have a really great community of young aviators especially, in this town, which is something that the industry has struggled with is how to attract new people to aviation. With Whistler and Squamish being an outdoor adventure capital, it is attracting a lot of people to aviation,” he said, adding that the corridor has its fair share of female pilots, too.
The club is trying to get a lease expansion so that more parking can be provided.
“A lot of people from the Lower Mainland are now looking at Squamish as a way to fly out of because it is only an hour drive,” he said. “Really, right now, it is hard for people to come and visit and use the airport because of the lack of parking [for planes].”
The District told The Chief that council approved the development of a Long-Term Airport Strategy in the Financial Plan for 2021 to establish the level of development at the airport, the approach and funding for servicing the airport and appropriate long-term lease terms for tenancies.
Long-term leases are currently not permitted at the airport until the Cheekye Fan Terrain Hazard (debris flow) mitigation is established, according to the District.
The municipality is currently reviewing potential solutions to the debris flow threat as part of the proposed rezoning in the Cheekye Fan area.
“The first phase of the Long-Term Airport Strategy is a geotechnical analysis which will assess specific impacts to the airport under several possible debris flow mitigation approaches. This analysis is expected to be completed in early summer 2021, and will inform the next phase in developing the strategy,” a District spokesperson said in an email to The Chief
Additional hangar space for recreational flyers will be considered as part of the next phase of the strategy development, according to the emailed statement.
