Governor praises airport groundbreaking
Governor Charlie Crist today lauded the groundbreaking of the new Panama City-Bay County International Airport, praising the project as a national model for carefully balancing economic development and environmental protection.
“This new airport provides a tremendous economic and conservation opportunity for Northwest Florida, the state and the nation,” said Crist, “The State of Florida is a proud partner of this project for the new jobs it creates and the environmentally sensitive areas that it helps to protect.”
“The new Panama City-Bay County airport will create a strong, new economic development platform for the Panhandle,” said Crist. “It will mean better jobs for the people of Northwest Florida and a better future for the children of Northwest Florida.”
Relocation of the airport is part of an innovative 50-year planning effort called the West Bay Sector Plan. With the new airport as its foundation, the sector plan brings more than 40,000 acres of land into preservation.
The West Bay Preservation Area will protect 33 miles of shoreline and 44 miles of creeks and tributaries of the West Bay. Furthermore, as part of the continuing effort to address global climate change, the new airport will be one of the first LEEDs (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certified airports in the entire nation.
Crist praised the sector plan and the environmentally sensitive design of the new airport, calling it “America’s First Green Airport.”
With the airport relocation as a catalyst, The National Audubon is planning a world-class nature center to serve as a portal to the West Bay Preservation Area.
Crist, called the Audubon center a rare opportunity to establish a environmental education venue that start a process to restore and preserve tens of thousands of acres of environmental jewels and return them to their natural state.
What began nearly 10 years ago as an effort to bring a safer airport to the region, the airport relocation project has served as a model for bi-partisan federal, state and local cooperation for economic progress and environmental protection. It is anticipated that the new airport will open in early 2010.
The Governor was represented at the event by Florida Department of Transportation Secretary Stephanie Kopelousos.