It's good in the short term but I don't think the long term prognosis for
the IC airport is any better and in fact now may be worse. In the past 10
years the airport has slowly been surrounded by Menards, Staples, Cub Foods,
Wal-Mart, Toyota and now Super Wal-Mart. A new road has been built
circumnavigating the airport (permanently closing a runway) and business
along side it are soon to follow. With each new business the property will
values creep ever higher and the logical end to this, it seems to me, is a
developer will eventually go in front of city council and offer big $$ to
convert the airport to insert large property tax paying corp here. It'll
probably take another 10 years, but my guess is IOW is slowly sinking to its
inevitable demise.

Just my $.02

-Brian
Iowa City, IA

"John Galban" wrote in message
oups.com...

I read an article in the GA News last night about the Iowa City
airport. Seems the airport struck a deal with Wal-Mart. They sold 22
acres of airport land to Wal-Mart for a Supercenter. The sale
apparently pays off the airport's massive debt and allows airport
revenue to now go towards airport improvements.

Local business owner and member of "Friends of the Iowa City
Airport", Jay Honeck was heavily quoted throughout the article.

Good job Jay! I'm not a fan of Wal-Mart, but they will be a much
better airport neighbor than a housing development (a problem we have
at my airport). The fact that Wal-Mart also has the $$'s to allow the
airport to bail itself out is also handy.

John Galban=====N4BQ (PA28-180)