Editor's Note:
This story was updated Wednesday, Dec. 17 to reflect more details regarding a joint use agreement between Kent State University and the Ashland County Airport Authority.
ORANGE TOWNSHIP — Aviation has always been part of the McNaulls’ love story, and decades later, another chapter was written for Cloyd and Mary Ann.
The McNaulls joined the chorus of wows as they on Tuesday welcomed the county’s new $1.9 million terminal that promises to support business growth in Ashland County and Ohio.
“Just ‘wow,’ that’s what I kept saying as I drove in today,” said state Rep. Melanie Miller (R-Ashland). Miller offered the Ashland County Airport Authority an accommodation from the state as part of Tuesday’s ceremony.
The ribbon-cutting ceremony marked the end of years of hoping and planning, said Tom Zupan, an airport authority trustee.
But in many ways, Tuesday marked the beginning of a new era.
“This says, ‘We’re open for business,'” said Ashland County Commissioner Mike Welch.
Officials have touted the project as being a literal landing strip for growing businesses to expand their footprint in Ashland — and to attract new industry.
“It’s going to be so great for the city, and a game changer for industry,” said Cloyd McNaull, a former recreational pilot who met his wife as a pilot trainee at the county’s old airport located off U.S. Route 250.
The McNaulls said they met one day when Cloyd came to a nearby restaurant where Mary Ann worked as a waitress.
“And I ordered a Coke and I talked to her. Eventually, we started dating,” Cloyd said on Tuesday, sitting next to his wife of nearly 74 years. Aviation played a role in their story, taking flights for dates and Sunday afternoon flights instead of drives.
But aviation also played a role in their professional lives.
Both of them worked worked for F.E. Myers, he as an industrial engineer and she as a data processor. The couple witnessed the value of having an airport nearby as the company built and expanded.
“So this really is wonderful to see,” Mary Ann said.
See inside
Ashland Mayor Matt Miller was impressed by the new terminal.
“When you move from a building where the wind would rustle your hairs as it flew through the paper-thin walls, to something like this? This paints a whole new picture for the world of who we are as a community,” Miller said.
The 4,000 square-foot facility features a flight school, a pilot lounge, a community room, a bathroom with a shower and a separate public restroom. The main lobby also features an observation deck, accessible only by ascending a spiral staircase.
Trustees hope to launch a flight school through a partnership with a university, most likely Kent State University. The “part 141” flight school could be equipped with three flight simulators and two or three offices for trainers.
The airport currently offers a “part 91” school, a training program through the Federal Aviation Administration that allows someone to earn private pilot ratings. A part 141 school is more extensive and allows people to fly commercial jets.
State Rep. Miller helped the airport authority secure a $150,000 grant through the Ohio Department of Transportation. Mark Everhart, her legislative aid, said “the grant is tied to a joint use agreement with Kent State University.”
Everhart said he wasn’t sure if the joint use agreement is specifically tied to a flight school “or if the the scope is broader.”
Eventually, the terminal could accommodate a medevac unit, said Steve Bechtol, an airport authority trustee.
Those components are not yet set in stone, he said.
“But things are looking up,” Bechtol added.
Funding for the project
Funding for the new terminal came from a mix of federal, state and local money.
Zupan commended the commissioners and other officials for their careful planning to come in under budget for the project.
- Just north of $1 million came from the county’s allocation of American Rescue Plan Act
- $618,000 came from the county’s capital budget
- Nearly $112,000 came from the Local Assistance and Tribal Consistency Fund
- $300,000 came from a grant through JobsOhio
- $150,000 came from the Ohio Department of Transportation
