We own it. We ought to be keeping it up.

Question: Are there any privately owned hangars at MAF or is everything owned by the city and leased out?

Great question, SA and great post, Ospurt. I'd like to learn that I am wrong, but I believe that you are correct that the city owns the facilities, has a maintenance contract for some of them (Avion, I think) and leases them to the occupants. Don't know if that applies to the bigger facilities such as Midland College, Deerhorn or some of the bigger hangers that have been occupied by some entity for a while (Cox, Fasken). And what about the CAF facilities?

I'm confused. Does the city own the air terminal?

You know , the building we had to build because the other one was so rundown and in such disrepair that they repaired the carpets with duct tape?

The old building seemed sturdy enough but nobody took care of it..you know..THAT one .
The one we had a bond election for..that one .
The one nobody too care of.???????????

Otto, have you been in Midland long enough to remember the original award winning terminal? The one with the wavy roof, where you walked out through a chain link fence to board your aircraft? I can't remember how many changes have had to be made to that building, primarily for increased security, but also for more air traffic, larger planes, more restrooms, increased office space, more baggage handling area, more parking......the security requirements by the feds along would have eventually mandated the decision taken by the Council at the time....it was more efficient and cheaper to start over. To mention only one problem among the many unseen ones......balancing the air conditioning/heating to accomodate the various new and old areas.

I clicked through every adjacent lot in the MidCAD/City GIS and every single one of them came back City of Midland or FAA, including the CAF.

I just dug down to one of the building's tax entry, and the record for the hangar lists improvements only. So the ground on which they sit is owned by the City of Midland, but the structures are privately held.

Though, as many a landman has told me, thee who owns the ground is King.

Being that it was once an airbase, I imagine it was transferred wholly to the city, rather than divided up.

To begin..Portia I am sadly not a Native Midlander ,as I have only resided here for 30 years.( A fact I am acutely aware of by some of the "older" Native Midlanders who have invited me to butt out of things.)

I AM starting to learn some of the street names and pronunciations and promise to learn SOMETHING about the " allbidness " before I croak .

That said;

Yes. I realize that federal mandates play into some of the renovations in the old terminal ! But just when do federal mandates play a part in forcing local taxpayers to have a bond election in order to cough up the dinero for a federally mandated airport?

The Federal government did not put duct tape on the carpet at the old airport to cause attention to it! It was done by the AIRPORT to get you to make them a shiny NEW AIRPORT ! In P.R. business this was a brilliant move, as is caused attention to the poor,poor worn out carpet in the saddest of ways! People would hear the story and then go to the airport to actually SEE our airport was held together by duct tape !

When the election rolled around everyone voted for a
new strong and sturdy building that would serve as a "temple of traveling" to all who would come to our fair city ! Of course a month after opening ,the front of the building caved in but that was only because the city did not include duct tape in the building specs.(I suppose)

I will give you that I have not used the airport in some time. Last occasion was 11 years ago and before that was 30up to 29 years ago .

My family goes few places ,as we are hard pressed to afford airline fares, and somehow resent having to pay money for shiny new buildings and parking places for the people who have no problem flying back and forth from Midland to Austin or Dallas daily!

So you see, Portia, this airport issue is just another one of those things that sticks in my craw. Emotionally, as I feel as I am being played, and Financially as I am paying yet again for something I do not use but will pay on till my death ! In my modest opinion I feel the right to be well and truly pissed.

The "FAIR TAX" would put an end to some of this madness ...and electing people with backbone might stop this wave of unfunded mandates under the name of "National Security "

Please, God , STOP the STUPID !

All that said,

I have no objection on maintence on property we own. To ignore maintence is to be a poor steward to the owners (us).

My question is why the old airport was allowed to become in such a sorry state !

Notice that all those awful problems at Midland High ..those absolutely unfixable problems...got fixed.