Early Airfield
Development
Then
called West Prospect Satellite Field, the Airport was
constructed in 1941 to train Naval Aviators, such as future
President George Bush, who as an Airman trained for combat
during World War II. The federal government deeded the
facility to the City in 1947 for use as a public airport.
Activities at the Airport have always reflected the
prevailing conditions in the local area. When it became
a public airport, it was in a remote part of Fort Lauderdale,
with little or no development nearby. During those early
years, the runways were used more for drag racing than
for aircraft takeoffs and landings.
To
help bring economic development into the area and create
job opportunities, the City established the Airport
Industrial Board and sold Airport land to companies
like Allied Signal Bendix and Harris Computer Corporation.
Funds from these land sales were used for airfield improvements
such as taxiway construction, lighting systems, and
guidance signs. The first building on the Airport, a
flight school maintenance hangar constructed in 1959,
is still in use today.
Over
the following decades and as business development boomed
in Fort Lauderdale, that first hangar grew to over 450
hangars housing more than 840 aircraft, including about
84 jets and 42 helicopters.
Today, six full service Fixed Base Operators, or FBOs,
provide fueling, maintenance, and other services to
these aircraft doing business here and bringing people
to the area. Related business, such as charter companies,
interior refurbishing companies, flight schools, and
avionics shops, also successfully established themselves
at Executive Airport.
Fueled by the phenomenal economic activity in South
Florida, total aircraft operations grew significantly
over the decades. Today, the Airport handles over 240,000
annual takeoffs and landings, making it the eighth busiest
general aviation airport in the country based on itinerant
operations.
Industrial Airpark Development
Other
businesses also blossomed in the Airport's 200 acre Industrial
Airpark. This was a direct result of the efforts of the
City and the Airport Industrial Board, renamed the Aviation
Advisory Board, to develop Executive Airport as a business
and executive facility and minimize its role as a sport
and recreational airport.
In 1974, as economic development began to unfold in
Fort Lauderdale and real estate development boomed,
the City decided to stop the practice of selling Airport
land and instituted a lease-only policy, thereby ensuring
a continuing revenue stream for the Airport Enterprise
Fund.
Today over 125 individual businesses call the Industrial
Airpark home, including Elite Panel Products, Telematics,
Marriott Hotels, Citicorp Latino, Walgreens, Dry Clean
USA, Lucent Technologies, and General Electric.
These
non-aviation businesses occupy more than 1.3 million
square feet of office and warehouse space and make the
Executive Airport Industrial Airpark the 16th largest
in the tri-county area. In recognition of Executive
Airport's economic importance in the community, it was
made a Division of the Community and Economic Development
Department of the City in the mid-1980s.
Community Facilities at the Airport
In
addition to promoting economic development, Executive
Airport also became home to a number of diverse community-based
activities. The U.S. Army Reserve Center's 841st Engineering
Battalion is located on the field. The Center is named
for Sandy Nininger, a Fort Lauderdale native and the first
recipient of the Congressional Medal of Honor during W.W.II.
The
City of Fort Lauderdale Police Department has a Substation
and a hangar at the Airport. The Broward County Sheriff's
Department maintains its special operations, such as
the aviation unit, marine patrol, bomb squad, and canine
units, here.
The Airport also contains two fire stations. One is
dedicated to aircraft rescue and operates a state-of-the-art
1500-gallon pump and roll vehicle but can also fight
structural fires in the Uptown area. The other is located
in the Industrial Airpark and is used to fight building
fires.
Buehler
Aviation Research, part of a nationally recognized foundation,
restores aircraft for the Smithsonian Institution. The
group restored the Howard Hughes Grumman Goose currently
on display at the Smithsonian and recently constructed
a replica of Amelia Earhart's Lockheed Electra. Also,
Florida Atlantic University and Barry University offer
educational programs from facilities located on the
property.
 Environmental
Program
The
Airport is also home to two of Florida's rare species.
Gopher tortoises are primarily located in a secluded area
on the north side of the Airport. The area is made up
of rare native plants and serves as a shelter and nesting
ground for the rare creatures.
 The
other species is the Florida Burrowing Owl, which has
nests scattered throughout the field. PVC pipes shaped
like "Ts" mark their nests so that they are visible
to the Airport's maintenance crews and also serve as
a place for the owls to perch during the breeding season.
A recent statewide population survey of the Florida
Burrowing Owl conducted by the University of Central
Florida and the Audubon Society in which 79 resident
burrowing owls and 49 active burrows were counted at
the Airport.
In
an effort to minimize disruption to the owls, Executive
Airport schedules its construction projects so as not
to interfere with the owls' breeding or nesting seasons.
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