The El Dorado Airport Commission is making strides toward a major project to restore and repair the terminal building at South Arkansas Regional Airport at Goodwin Field.
Efforts have been underway for nearly a decade to restore the post-World War II-era terminal and raise money to fund the project, which is now estimated at nearly $3.5 million.
Within the past few weeks, the EAC has secured funding to assist with those efforts.
Work has begun on the “building envelope stabilization” phase of the terminal restoration and in the coming days, the terminal will be spruced up with a fresh coat of paint.
In August of 2019, the El Dorado Works Board and the El Dorado City Council committed $1 million from the El Dorado Works tax toward the terminal restoration project.
The one-cent, city sales tax is dedicated to economic development, municipal infrastructure and quality-of-life projects.
The tax is administered by the EWB, who vets proposed projects. If funding is approved by the EWB, the projects are then presented to the El Dorado City Council for consideration.
Ongoing efforts
In 2015, CADM Architecture, Inc., per a request from the airport commission, drafted plans that included costs and feasibility assessments for options to renovate and repair the terminal or to demolish it and build anew.
At the time, airport commissioners were exploring cost-effective measures to deal with ongoing issues at the terminal, including a leaky roof and other moisture infiltration, problems with the HVAC system and more.
Commissioners voted on new construction.
Mickey Murfee, now chairman of the EAC, cast the lone no vote on the matter, setting off an intervention by local, state and federal historic preservation groups to save the SARA terminal.
In 2018, the airport commission and the El Dorado Historic District Commission worked together to submit a nomination to the state review board as part of an effort to preserve the terminal building and get it placed on the National Register of Historic Places.
At the time, airport commissioners and city officials learned that a Determination of Eligibility study had been completed on the terminal building years earlier and deemed the airport property eligible for nomination to the NRHP.
However, the city had not followed through with the nomination process.
The SARA terminal was added to the NRHP in August of 2018.
The master plan for the terminal was updated in 2017 with the preliminary budget estimate adjusted from $1.9 million to $2.1 million for renovation and repairs, including upgrades to the mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems and an internal face lift.
Proposed upgrades on the second floor brought the preliminary budget estimate to $2.3 million.
Now, the estimate for the master plan is closer to $3.5 million.
In 2018, work was completed to replace the deteriorating roof of the terminal building. Thermoplastic polyolefin (TPO), a single-ply roofing membrane, was used to coat the roof.
The project came in at approximately $130,000, which was covered by a grant from the Arkansas Department of Aeronautics and matching funds from the El Dorado Works tax.
Last year, an engineering study was completed and recommendations made on the terminal building’s HVAC system, another component in the restoration project.
The El Dorado City Council voted in July of 2022 to waive the competitive bidding process to repair a component of the HVAC system that had quit, making for sweltering conditions inside the airport terminal.
Building envelope stabilization
A month earlier, airport commissioners learned that the Arkansas Historic Preservation Program had awarded a grant in the amount of $84,320 for “building envelope stabilization,” which entails sealing off the terminal building from outside, unconditioned air that permeates the terminal, particularly around the windows.
Any remaining funds will be used to repaint the terminal, SARA manager Johnathan Estes previously said.
In August of 2022, the EWB and city council signed off on a funding request of $42,610 from the El Dorado Works tax to serve as a match for the grant.
On May 9, after several discussions among the EAC, Estes requested additional funds, telling EWB members that a quote from contractor Ideal Construction Company, which has offices in Crossett, Texarkana and Little Rock, had exceeded cost projections.
Estes explained that the project had initially been valued at $126,000 but the group did not receive any proposals when the project was advertised for bids.
Blake Dunn, of CADM Architecture, Inc., then reached out to contractors, showed them the design specifications for the job and got a bite from Ideal, who presented a quote of $159,070, said Estes.
With architectural fees of $13,700, the total estimated cost of the project is $173,400, leaving a funding shortfall of $46,920.
Estes asked for an additional $16,000 to replace corrugated asbestos panels on the third floor of the four-story terminal building.
He said the third-floor panels are “pretty much cracked” and following storm damage in 2021, one of the panels was replaced a couple of years back with an R-panel, which has been working well.
“When they did the roof overlay (in 2017 and 2018), they went under that corrugated asbestos paneling about three to four inches,” Estes explained.
“Since the panel waves outwards, whenever the wind blows across that slick (roof) mat, it’s getting under the corrugated paneling, under that TPO roof overlay, causing ceiling damage on the floors below,” he continued.
Estes said that when he observed Ideal crews measuring the space in which the R-panel was installed, he discussed the matter with Ideal and Dunn.
Noting that the R-panel “is not historically accurate in terms of the design to the terminal,” Estes said construction crews were going to replace it.
“I personally don’t like wasting taxpayers’ money and I asked them why are we replacing the one panel that’s keeping the rain out and not the rest?” he said. “So they said, ‘Well, let’s see what we can do,’ so that’s why we’re going ahead and just replacing the other ones that are leaking along with that R-panel.”
He said the R-panel will be moved to the tower in the rotunda of the terminal building in preparation for extreme weather events that could occur in the future.
The EWB approved the funding request, which totaled $62,920 and will be pulled from the $1 million set-aside.
The city council OKed the request two days later on May 11.
Marketing
During a specially-called El Dorado Advertising and Promotion Commission meeting on June 20, Estes told commissioners that subcontractor El Dorado Glass and Mirror Company is sealing windows in the terminal building to prevent unconditioned air from getting inside.
“There are certain windows around the building that I can actually stick my pinkie between the seals,” Estes said.
He made the comments while presenting a request for funding to pay for informational brochures that will be distributed to help drum up financial support for the terminal restoration project.
The airport commission has been working with the Diamond Agency, a local advertising firm and ad agency of record for the A&P commission, to come up with marketing ideas for the project.
The EAC favored a suggestion about the brochures and Estes presented to the A&P commission cost options of $3,550 for 1,000 prints or $3,750 for 2,500 prints.
Estes and airport commissioners have said the brochures will be used for a targeted marketing campaign and sent out to potential donors.
“They will go to direct businesses, people of influential means, people of means who have expendable funding to actually donate towards the terminal restoration or have an interest in donating toward terminal restoration,” Estes said.
Commissioner Dianne Hammond asked if the brochures will be sent out of town or out of state.
Estes said yes, noting that SARA is a regional airport with a catchment area that includes El Dorado, Camden, Magnolia, Crossett, Texarkana and Ruston, Louisiana.
“They may go to Little Rock. They may go to Monroe (Louisiana). Some people will come here if they’re exclusively looking for a cheap flight to Dallas or a cheap flight to Memphis,” Estes said.
Southern Airways Express, the city’s Essential Air Service provider, offers flights to the Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport and the Memphis International Airport.
Estes also noted that officials from Canfor Corporation, a Canada-based forest products company, fly in to SARA every few weeks to check on their local production facility.
“Maybe we’ll get some Canadian currency, as well,” he said with a laugh.
Don Miller, chairman of the A&P commission, asked if airport commissioners will work with the El Dorado-Union County Chamber of Commerce on the marketing project and Estes said he believes Murfee plans to do just that.
An idea to distribute detachable keychains that include the SARA logo to transient fliers as a marketing tool fell flat with A&P commissioners.
Commissioner Barbie Luther said the keychains are an item that she would likely discard and Hammond agreed.
Hammond made a motion to approve the funding option of $3,750 to print 2,500 of the informational brochures.
Paint job
Last Friday, Estes said he had met with Dunn to review paint samples for the terminal and he would spend the weekend going over the samples and pick a color that is acceptable to the Arkansas Historic Preservation Program, who will make the final decision.
He said the terminal will likely go back to its original concrete gray color, similar to Memorial Stadium.
The stadium and the airport terminal were both designed by late architect John Abbott, founder of CADM Architecture, Inc.
Painting at the terminal is expected to begin July 10 and wrap on July 21.