Soon you can watch corporate jets and other aircraft take off and land at Boca Raton Airport.
A shovels and hardhats groundbreaking marked the construction start of a 4-foot covered observation area with disability accessibility ramps and a railing. The structure will sit close to the airport’s administration building that’s nestled next to and visible from Florida Atlantic University’s Boca Raton campus.
Construction should take four months, Airport Authority chairman Bob Tucker announced. The platform is designed to be “hurricane resistant with a modern look,” he added.
The observation deck has been on the drawing board for at least four years. Once it’s completed, the airport expects civic and school organizations and the public to have “a front row seat,” not only for takeoffs and landings. They’ll also hear audio between the pilots and the control tower, and signage will inform visitors about wildlife there, including gopher tortoises.
Airport executive director Clara Bennett welcomed enthusiastic board members, elected officials and other VIPs. Boca Raton Mayor Scott Singer called the airport “an economic driver” for the city, and the U.S. Customs facility an “amenity” for international flights and boaters.
Boca Raton Airport sits off Interstate-95 on 214 acres. An FAA contract tower is located on the field. The airport averages more than 83,000 operations annually, including private aviation, corporate travel and air taxi operations. Aircraft includes single-engine, multi-engine, and helicopters. Nearly 300 aircraft are based at the airport. The U.S. Customs and Border Protection facility allows international flights to fly directly into the Boca Raton Airport.
