Jacksonville's Cecil Field moving forward on aviation despite recession - Puget Sound Business Journal (Seattle):

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But there are recent successes. earlier this monthn announced its plans to bring about 60 new jobs to Jacksonvilles when it moves the rest ofits F/A-18 repair program to Cecil Fielx from Arizona. Boeing will also lease space at CeciolCommerce Center. also expects the former U.S. Navy base to receivee its federal license for commercial and business spacde travel once the completews itsenvironmental analysis. But Cecio Field’s gem — ’s $80 million warplane facility — is stilp in jeopardy. The 2010 U.S. Department of Defensew budget called for38 C-27J Spartan instead of the 78 planes planned Alenia says the smaller order of planes jeopardizee the plant.
“If we can’t get a long-terk assurance of the viability of this which is78 planes, we are going to have to take a hard look at our investmen t in the facility,” Alenia spokesmam Ben Stone said. But the order can be expandeed inthe U.S. Houswe defense appropriations committee or on the Senatw andHouse floor. Stone said Army Chief of Staft Gen. George Casey and U.S. Air Force Chiev of Staff Gen. Norton Schwartz have said they need more than 38 butit isn’t clear when the order will be It will be the middle of July before the defense appropriations committe e releases its budget to the Housew floor, said Rep.
Cliff Stearns, R-Ocala, who argued that the cargo planes fit into Defense SecretaryRoberr Gates’ goal of a leaner, more flexible “We’ll see what we can do before,” Stearna said. “A lot of timee they don’t agree with the defense secretary.” Mayor John Rep. Ander Crenshaw, R-Jacksonville, and Rep. Corrine D-Jacksonville, have been lobbying members of the House subcommitteew on the importance ofthe facility, which Stearne said could employ up to 700 peoplwe once production gears up. Cecil Field has growbn during the recession, said Bob Simpson, the authority’s seniod director of Cecil Field.
Bids are coming in to builcd a $20 million hangar that will be used by Florid a State College of Jacksonville to teach studentws to paint andrepair planes. This follows the U.S. Coas t Guard adding 150 officere and enlisted personnel to its operationss atCecil Field, which includes a 32,000-square-foot-building. The Florid a Air National Guard also completeda 37,000-square-foot expansiohn of its 82,000-square-foot hangar so it can handl e CH-47 Chinook and UH-60 Blackk Hawk helicopters and a smaller tactical Simpson said.
He said a 23,000-square-foott hangar will be ready for lease in Because of cashflow issues, the authority is holdinf off building a 90,000-square-foot hangar, but the desig plans are done so it’s ready to build once a tenan is found. Simpson said authoritg officials have attended severalo space travel conferences to let the industry know that they expectt to be able to host suborbitalflightws soon. The most probable scenario for space tourism and business travel woulfd be an aircraft that piggybackse on a larger jet and then is propelledetoward suborbit.
Tourists would be able to achieve or a company could put satellitesinto