Jeanerette airport close to $450,000 in hangar help

The Iberia Parish delegation was successful in getting a capital outlay request of $450,000 passed for the construction of 10 new hangars at Lemaire Memorial Airport in Jea-nerette.

An item included in House Bill 2, the appropriation was passed by the Senate earlier this week and the House late Thursday afternoon.

It is a huge development for an airport that has been largely undeveloped and “ignored” for several years, said state Rep. Simone Champagne, D-Jeanerette, though she cautioned the money has not been officially appropriated until the governor signs off on it.

“This is a wonderful little airport with plenty of potential,” she said. “I believe it needs to be revived and there are people involved in the effort now that will make positive things happen there.”

State Sen. Troy Hebert, D-Jeanerette, said he was pleased to announce the development for Lemaire, adding the hangar construction will not only help to attract new business to the airport but will also provide a much needed revenue stream.

One local person pushing the hardest for new development at the Jeanerette airport is heli-crop duster and volunteer lobbyist for Lemaire, Ken Squires. He said recently there are only three aircraft based at Lemaire, seven short of the 10 necessary for the airport to qualify for funding from the Federal Aviation Administration.

Squires said he believes once these hangars are built, many more aircraft will be based at the airport.

Airport Director Jason Devillier said he has a waiting list already of pilots interested in leasing hangar space in Jeanerette from the Acadiana Regio-nal Airport Authority.

“In the next several days we’re placing signs at Airport Boulevard and Martin Luther King Drive (in Jeanerette) advertising sites for lease,” he said. “Once our hangar construction begins, it may entice other pilots or companies with aircraft to lease land and build their own hangars. The authority’s goal is to establish a strong general aviation community at Lemaire Memorial.”

Squires said hangar construction alone could take operational costs at Jeanerette out of the red each year, fetching $18,000 to $24,000 in lease payments annually.

“We are very blessed to have a great small airport in Jeanerette,” Hebert said. “This money will go a long way to revive an airport that has been going down the past few years.”

Devillier said continued support and investment in Lemaire by the state is evidence of the airport’s importance to the area. It has received two grants recently from the state Department of Transpor-tation and Development Aviation Division for more than $500,000 for a seal coat project on the airport runway and lighting upgrades.