Sarasota Bradenton International Airport eliminating some portable hangars

Twenty-seven owners of portable hangar buildings at Sarasota Bradenton International Airport, told to vacate their portion of the airfield by early 2018, are asking airport officials to reconsider or make a new place for them.

If not, they say, their aircraft may need to move 100 miles away because there are no more general aviation hangars available at SRQ. Some may have to have to quit flying all together.

In April, the airport notified the owners of 27 Port-A-Port brand metal portable hangars that they must remove the buildings from airport-owned land within a year or have them demolished. That timeline has since been extended to two years, but the airport has no plans at present to replace the hangars.

At issue is the perceived safety of the buildings. Airport CEO Fredrick “Rick” Piccolo said the 40-year-old structures are vulnerable to wind and could damage aircraft and other structures if they collapse in a storm.

“Our obligation is to keep the airport as safe as possible,” he said.

Piccolo said the airport was already looking at removing the structures in 1995, his first year at SRQ. He pushed to keep the temporary hangars in place at the time, but said the safety issue no longer can be ignored.

But Port-A-Port owners say the structures just need some reinforcement work, paint and little updating to bring them in line with 105 other, newer portable hangars the airport owns. Jim Faix was one of several hangars owners who on Monday asked the Sarasota Manatee Airport Authority to reconsider eliminating the Port-A-Ports. Without them, he said, there will be no place at the airport for the owners and pilots to keep their planes.

The airport has no vacant hangars and a waiting list of more than 20 people to get into any spaces that open.

Faix said there is little airfield space near SRQ where the Port-A-Port owners can move their aircraft. Some, including him, might have no choice but to sell their planes and quit flying.

“All this sends the message that SRQ management is not interested in growing small aviation at the airport,” he said.

Located nearly in the shadow of SRQ’s control tower on the north end of the airport’s airfield, the Port-A-Ports stand out. Age shows on many through old paint and in dings and dents acquired over decades. Faix’s hangar is one of three he and a friend recently repainted. He’s occupied his hangar since 2013, using it to rehab a 1956 Cessna 172.

Recently insulated and extensively bolted to the pavement, Faix’s hangar looks far less careworn than many others nearby. The investments have been worth it, particularly since the cost of leasing the space for the structure is so low. He and other Port-A-Port owners pay $100 a month to the airport.

Maix said that on one level, he understands that the airport wants to keep its facilities up-to-date. What bothers him is being left without options. He wants airport officials to consider building new portable hangars or allowing current hangar owners to form a cooperative to build permanent hangar space.

“It wouldn’t be such a shock, but they have nothing to offer us,” he said.

Piccolo said the airport has looked at replacing the 27 existing hangars and one that was recently torn down. The cost would be about $1.1 million.

He said the airport must consider the financial viability of such a project. While SRQ does charge a higher, $419 monthly fee for each of its newer portable hangars, it does not want to wind up in a high-vacancy situation if demand for hangar space drops. During the recent recession, about 25 hangars stood empty at one time.

The airport authority will discuss the issue at its next meeting, which is scheduled for Aug. 22.

This story was originally published May 23, 2016 at 5:19 PM with the headline "Sarasota Bradenton International Airport eliminating some portable hangars."