Capt. Osme Benedict of the 104th Fighter Wing at Barnes Regional Airport gives a thumbs up signal from the cockpit of an F-15 fighter jet as he lands on the newly reconstructed 9,000-foot runway that opened yesterday. (Photo by Frederick Gore)
WESTFIELD – A group of civilians and military personnel joined Westfield Mayor Daniel M. Knapik and officials from Westfield-Barnes Regional Airport yesterday to usher in a new era at the facility, welcoming renovations to its main runway about one week ahead of schedule.
“To be able to pull off a new runway in this economy is amazing,” said Knapik prior to the reopening. “All of the pieces of the airport puzzle are coming together, and better days are ahead.”
According to Joe Mitchell, airport commissioner for the City of Westfield, the project was completed by Westfield’s own Lane Construction for around $16.7 million, and was a truly collaborative undertaking.
“It was made up of a combination of funding from the City of Westfield, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, the National Guard Bureau, and the Federal Aviation Administration.” said Mitchell, before adding that the final price tag was four million less than what the project was originally slated to cost.
“This project will maintain the viability of this airport, the economy it supports, and the city, for the next 50 years. I’ll be dead and gone when they see the first cracks in this runway,” he said.
Knapik and several city officials including Community Development Director Peter Miller and Economic Development Director Jeff Daley, as well as leaders from the Barnes Air National Guard Base, most notably Colonel James Keefe, Major David Mendoza, and Major Edward Gunning, out to the new and improved runway to witness two F-15 fighter jets touch down on the 1.8 mile landing strip.
Col. James P. Keefe, left, commander of the 104th Fighter Wing, points to an F-15 aircraft as Brian Barnes, Barnes Regional Airport manager, celebrates the newly reconstructed 9,000-foot runway at the airport. (Photo by Frederick Gore)
“About 6,700 feet of the runway is concrete,” Mitchell said. “The rest is asphalt.”
The added length of the runway is necessary, Mitchell said, because while several thousand feet are needed for a jet to take off, in the event of a malfunction, additional space is needed to ensure it can safely return to the ground.
“If you lose an engine, you need about 5,000 feet to stop,” said Mitchell, who put in eight years in the United States Air Force.
“It’s nice to have everyone back,” said Col. Keefe of the return of the base’s fighter jets, which have been stationed at Westover Air Base in Chicopee, in Otis, and on Cape Cod. “It will make us more efficient, with our avionics and maintenance right here. Now, if we have an issue with a jet, it’s much easier.”
Keefe said that the jets will be leaving for a training deployment in Florida the first week of December, and will be launching out of Westover.
Keefe also marveled at the efficiency of the project.
“Of the one million we received from the guard bureau, we used less than $500,000,” he said with a smile.
Alex Bernier, the resident inspector for Stantec, an engineering consulting company charged with designing and overseeing the project, was also please with yesterday’s results.
“We started (the design) in January of 2013,” he said. “As far as the construction, Lane was able to provide the resources necessary. You’ll see that’s the case with a lot of big projects, smaller companies can’t compete for the price, so you end up getting the resources you need to complete it on time.”
Bernier, who works out of Stantec’s New York City office, said that the Barnes project bucked the trend for most larger runway projects.
Officials and airport contractors celebrate the opening of a newly reconstructed 9,000-foot runway at Barnes Regional Airport as four F-15 fighter aircraft returned to the base yesterday. (Photo by Frederick Gore)
“The whole project has been only a year in the making, which for a large project like this it’s usually a lot longer,” he said. “The funding sources all came together. It was like a perfect storm, and we were able to make it happen. It was a perfect project that everyone has been happy to see at the end.”
“It’s ahead of time and on budget, so that’s always a good thing,” he said. “Stantec, Lane, and Kobo our electrical company — they were marvelous professionals to work with. There were very few issues in this whole project and for something that big, that’s pretty rare.”
“We’re a good week or two ahead of schedule, so what else can you say?” he said.
A more formal opening ceremony is scheduled for mid-December, with appearances from Governor Deval Patrick and possibly Congressman Richard Neal slated.
