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Will Air Show Ever Fly Again in Twin Cities?

Posted on: Wednesday, 20 July 2005, 18:00 CDT

Anyone for the return of an air show to the Central Illinois Regional Airport in Bloomington-Normal?

There are thousands of reasons for one. An estimated 100,000 people attended the last true, two-day air show at the airport -- and I don't mean the low-speed, low-power version offered in the summer of 2002 after Prairie Air Show flew away to the Greater Peoria Regional Airport.

Can you think of another Twin City attraction that drew so many people? Well, maybe the Corvette Corral. But we lost that show, too.

There are hurdles to an air show: More construction at Central Illinois Regional Airport; finding enough sponsors to cover a $300,000-plus budget; houses encroaching the airport flight paths; having a show while maintaining commercial flights; and getting enough volunteers.

It will take a "want-to" attitude and better cooperation than what was evident at earlier shows to make an air show return possible.

The Twin Cities now have a new airport executive director experienced with air shows at the Binghamton, N.Y., airport from which he came. He's been in the Twin Cities less than a month but Carl Olson was quick to add: "I've heard about the air shows."

I could tell by the tone of his voice that he knew there had been some controversy over the shows, so I didn't try to put him on the spot by asking if he supports the return of air shows. I'll give the guy a chance to learn local politics first.

It would take some "coming together" of the boards of the airport and Prairie Air Show Inc. to make an air show possible.

The beneficiary has been, and still is, the Prairie Aviation Museum's Challenger Learning Center in the old Twin City airport terminal.

Central Illinois is not without an air show. Peoria's show (Bloomington's ex-show) will be Aug. 6-7. This will be the final year of a three-year contract between Peoria and Bloomington-based Prairie Air Show Inc. But there is a provision for a contract extension, which has yet to be discussed.

Former Bloomington Mayor Jesse Smart and Dave Keim, president and executive director, respectively, of Prairie Air Show have both said they would like a show to return to Bloomington-Normal. But they're also careful not to offend their gracious hosts in Peoria who took them in when they were virtually booted out of the air show business here because of runway construction -- chief among the public reasons.

More construction is coming, said Paul Harmon, chairman of the Bloomington-Normal Airport Authority. There will be taxiway and main runway lighting projects for the next year or two.

And the precision jet teams such as the Navy's Blue Angels and the Air Force's Thunderbirds won't perform while major airport construction is going on.

It takes a year to get the major acts booked, so it's not too early to begin talking.

Both Harmon and Keim mentioned an intriguing idea.

What would be wrong with having alternating air shows at different Central Illinois airports?

Peoria and Bloomington-Normal would be naturals. Maybe Decatur could be included in the mix, too.

Having a show every third year wouldn't overburden small staffs at the airports; would provide good public relations and exposure of the public to more airports; and might make it easier to find local corporations willing to be major sponsors every three years instead of annually.

Air show fans would probably go where the action is, so increasing the coverage area could also increase the audiences regardless of where the air shows take flight.

We've heard all of the reasons why Bloomington-Normal isn't having an air show.

Let's hope all of the negatives of the past can be locked out and be replaced with a cooperative spirit to plan for the next Twin City air show.

Bill Wills is editorial page editor of The Pantagraph. He can be reached at (309) 829-9000, Ext. 220, or via e-mail at: bwills@pantagraph.com

Source: Pantagraph

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