Boca Airport Observation Area Coming Soon
By: Marci Shatzman
Love to watch corporate jets and smaller planes take off and land from a runway? You’re in luck.
The long-awaited daylight and free public observation area at Boca Raton Airport is about to become a reality.
The airport expects to start construction as early as mid-October, executive director Clara Bennett advised. “That’s when we will be issuing a notice to proceed.”
The buildout is expected to take 131 days, airport co-director Scott Kohut told the Boca Raton Airport Authority at its monthly meeting.
A circular deck next to the airport’s administration building will rise from ground level to 4 feet. The design is all-mobility accessible, and will have its own landscaping, benches, parking, and a shade canopy. Also planned are “aviation amenities, such as a radio to listen to the airport control tower transmissions,” Kohut said.
The platform is the work of Recreational Design & Construction, Inc. in Fort Lauderdale.
The airport authority that oversees the facility approved the contract. “The amendment will lock in the price, and may come in below $1,158,210,” Kohut said at the authority meeting. The entire cost will be paid by the Florida Department of Transportation’s Aviation Grant program, Bennett said.
Students from Boca Raton Composite Squadron, Civil Air Patrol U.S. Air Force Facility, presented a color guard at the authority meeting. “We have 40 young people from 12 to 21 in our cadet program and 44 adults,” squadron commander Col. Joseph J. Martin said.
The authority approved a $28,100 donation for two hangers. The squadron keeps a Cessna 1821 at the airport, Martin added.
Boca Raton Airport’s campus is 214 acres between Spanish River Boulevard and Glades Road.
