Port works towards self-sustaining airfield goal

HOOD RIVER — If plans and funding come together, pilots landing at the Port of Hood River’s Ken Jernstedt Airfield will find a brand-new terminal building by 2028 at the earliest, as described in a port commission meeting Dec. 16.

Jernstedt Field, located adjacent to Western Antique Aeroplane and Automobile Museum (WAAAM) on Tucker Road, struggles financially, losing $250,000 in FY 2021, for instance. But the port is reducing fiscal support as it transfers bridge toll revenues to the bridge replacement effort, and is aiming for a self-sustaining airfield by FY 2027. An additional 10 hangar spaces set for construction in 2026 will bring in $60,000 annually, and combined with anticipated airfield land leases, the port anticipates fiscal break-even and even a set-aside for capital projects — like the terminal building.

“This will make the Ken Jernstedt Airfield one of the few municipal airports in the Pacific Northwest not reliant on property taxes, sales taxes, or tolls,” according to one of the slides in last week’s board presentation.

Hood River County established the airfield in 1946 and transferred ownership to the port in 1976. A year later, an airport master plan identified the need for a terminal building, and that project carried through all the subsequent plan updates but never came to fruition.

That left a gap in support services such as meeting space, a café and convenient restrooms. (There are restrooms available now, but people have to cross an active runway to reach them.) The port also sees a terminal building as meeting a critical resilience need in cases of natural disaster: With a backup generator, solar array and batteries in place, the building would support emergency communications and support existing emergency services, such as LifeFlight and wildfire response, which already use the airfield.

As currently proposed, the 6,300-square foot structure would be one and a half stories, with a welcome center, community room, car rental office, restrooms, café, pilot area and retail shop on the first floor. The second half-floor would have office space opening onto the first-floor welcome center.

But cost is a challenge. As envisioned, the price tag is just over $9 million, a majority of which would be covered from various grant sources, including a $5 million application to U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA). The port would provide $500,000 from selling the former Hanel Mill site, and the he budget includes design, engineering and a 15% contingency. The EDA application is time-sensitive, due for submission in January. The port has already secured political support, including letters from the Oregon Aviation Department, U.S. Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley, state Rep. Jeff Helfrich, U.S. Rep. Maxine Dexter and state Sen. Christine Drazen.

The January deadline required assurance of a port commitment to undertake the project. Port commissioners did so last week, contingent upon securing other funding necessary for completion while also keeping the door open to reductions in project scope. Instead, a smaller building might be reconfigured to include an interior hangar, which would provide additional revenue.

“We’re trying to make sure it’s just the right size, solving the right problems,” said Port Commission Vice President Tor Bieker.

If all comes together, the new terminal building would be open for business by July 2028.

The airfield is dedicated to former Oregon State Sen. Ken Jernstedt, a long-time Hood River business owner and pilot. Jernstedt, who died in 2013 at age 95, was a World War II veteran and squadron leader with the Flying Tigers, authorized by President Roosevelt to help resist Japan’s invasion of China soon after Pearl Harbor. He was Oregon’s first ace in the Second World War. He served two terms as Hood River’s mayor, once after retiring from the State Senate.

The port contracts with Hood Aero as fixed base operator (FBO), managing fuel sales, hangar space and other aviation services. The same firm is FBO for Columbia Gorge Regional Airport at Dallesport.

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In other port business last week:

Commissioners approved an intergovernmental agreement (IGA) with Columbia Area Transit (CAT) to develop an “interregional transit hub” on the port’s waterfront property. CAT has secured design funds from Oregon Department of Transportation, and needed the IGA to help qualify for federal construction funding. Five potential locations are being evaluated, along Portway Avenue and N. First Street.

The port met with boathouse owners at the Hood River Marina in a public workshop preceding the regular meeting, the latest in a series of discussions between private owners and the port over the long-term existence of these boathouses. Later in the public session, commissioners agreed not to renew moorage agreements with the boathouse owners. This was in keeping with port policy established in 2022.