Sarasota-Bradenton International vies to be Hurricane Hunter home

MANATEE -- The men, women and aircraft that dive into and fly over hurricanes to learn where the storms might strike the Florida peninsula may take a look at Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport for their new home base.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has notified Sen. Bill Nelson's office that it is in search of new hangar facilities for its Hurricane Hunters aircraft. The planes and the 95 personnel that operate NOAA's aircraft operations center were told in February that they must vacate their longtime home base at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa.

In an email to Nelson's office, NOAA said it wants to relocate the Hurricane Hunters to an airfield within 50 miles of MacDill before the start of the 2017 hurricane season. The agency posted a request for information notice this week in hopes of finding a suitable location.

SRQ might well fit the bill. It, along with airports in Tampa, St. Petersburg, Brooksville, Zephyrhills and Lakeland, is within that 50-mile radius and will soon have more than 100 acres of open, developable land to lease. Fredrick "Rick" Piccolo, the airport's CEO, said the one thing the airport lacks is hangar space. NOAA wants 100,000 square feet of it. That is more than the airport has now.

"We obviously don't have 100,000 square feet of empty hangar space sitting around," Piccolo said. "We have plenty of land. It's the structures themselves that are the issue."

Still, SRQ is making a pitch to NOAA. Piccolo said the Hurricane Hunters could bring a new stream of rental income to the airport. SRQ's fixed-base operators Rectrix and Dolphin Aviation could also benefit if NOAA rents space from them.

The airport will submit information about its runway, hangars, land and other facilities to NOAA. Piccolo said he will know within a couple of weeks if the agency wants to talk further about a possible location.

NOAA is looking to lease space for a term of less than 10 years. It considers that length of time a "temporary" relocation. After it goes through responses to the request for information, NOAA will issue a formal request for lease proposals. The agency stated that it plans to award a lease by Jan. 1, 2017.

Nelson, D-Fla., said he is gratified

to know NOAA is continuing its presence in Southwest Florida.

"Keeping NOAA's hurricane hunters in Tampa Bay is simply the right thing to do," he said. "Moving them anywhere else would be highly disruptive to an agency charged with such an important mission."

The Hurricane Hunters operate about a half-dozen aircraft, including two Lockheed WP-3D Orions and Gulfstream IV-SP. The aircraft collect data from inside and outside hurricanes that is used to determine how intense the storms could become and where they might make landfall.

Matt M. Johnson, Herald business reporter, can be reached at 941-745-7027 or on Twitter @MattAtBradenton.

This story was originally published April 8, 2016 at 11:37 PM with the headline "Sarasota-Bradenton International vies to be Hurricane Hunter home ."