By Terry Witt – Spotlight Senior Reporter

            Few people in Levy County know much about Williston Municipal Airport or the fact that about 1,400 privately owned jets land at the airport annually.

            “It’s definitely a hidden gem,” said Airport Supervisor Benton Stegall.

            Come November, if everything goes according to plan, the airport is planning to begin building a new $3.9 million terminal building complete with a mezzanine for people to view incoming and outgoing flights.

            The mezzanine will be a second-story observation deck. Stegall said some of America’s heroes, its veterans, like to come out and watch aircraft activities.

            “It should be a pretty nice view. The main reason we want the mezzanine is we have a lot of retired veterans in the area and they just like to come out and sit on the porch and watch airplanes go by. For some of them, it’s too hot to sit outside, so they can sit up here in air conditioning,” Stegall said.

            The mezzanine will be equipped with a small lift to allow handicapped people to reach the observation deck without having to use the stairs.

            The airport is growing. It leases land to private jet owners and general aviation owners. They can build their own airplane hangars. Several hangars are under construction.

            When the new terminal is finished – construction probably won’t be completed until late 2024 – the airport will take on a new identity as a regional airport.  Stegall wants to wait for the new terminal to be completed before erecting a new entrance sign. It’s already reached regional status.

            The terminal building at the airport is known as a Fixed Base Operator or FBO. Plans are in the works to rent out space in the old FBO building that serves as the current terminal. Stegall said a flight medic has expressed interest in renting space to do flight medicals. An aviation insurance agency is talking about renting space. Sky Chiefs Aviation, a flight school for agricultural airplanes based at the airport, is interested in renting space, and Edge Logistics, which does experimental testing at the airfield, is also interested in space.

            Another part of the airport’s future is to provide overnight sleeping quarters for pilots that land due to bad weather. Stegall said the plan is to move a shack from the fairgrounds to the airport and rehabilitate the building to house pilots that are “weathered-in.” The building would have sleeping quarters and probably a small kitchen with a microwave.

            “Florida’s weather is pretty brutal on pilots, especially when we have these pop-up thunderstorms. I can’t tell you how many people we’ve had stay here, or stay here late because they’re stranded,” he said.

            The airport has 87 confirmed aircraft based at the airport. Four to five jets land every day along with 20 to 30 general aviation aircraft.

            “Some people fly in just to see their families. Some fly in to eat at the Pyper Cub Restaurant. There are a number of reasons why people are attracted to Williston,” Stegall said.

            Stegall said he and the airport’s FBO supervisor and administrator, Kelly Hars, are looking forward to having a larger office to operate in when the new terminal building is finished. They currently share a 10 by 10-foot office. Hars also administers the growing industrial park at the airport whose largest tenant is Monterey Boats with an estimated workforce of about 650 employees including part-time.

            Airport officials have also reached out to organizations that want to sit down and talk about bringing more businesses to the industrial park.

            “We’re going to be sitting down with Nature Coast Business Development Council folks in early September to see what they can try to put together for the industrial park side, not the aviation side,” Stegall said.

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Enterprise Reporting September 3, 2023; Posted September 4, 2023