After over 20 years since Cottage Grove's FBO (Fixed Base of Operations) was moved off of the airport grounds in what would soon become a story for the ages, community leaders in Cottage Grove are proud to announce there is now a facility to once again serve pilots at the Cottage Grove Airport!  

Approximately 23 years ago, the owner of the original building decided to move it off the grounds (in the middle of the night) as part of a growing dispute about owed property taxes.  Since then, the traffic from general aviation pilots has dropped precipitously due to the fact that there was nothing left to welcome pilots but a gas pump, an empty concrete pad and a portable toilet.  

"Cottage Grove's Airport is actually longer and can handle heavier aircraft than our neighbors in Creswell but they get 10 times the traffic that we do,"  said Travis Palmer, the Executive Director of the Cottage Grove Chamber of Commerce.  "The reason is because nobody wants to fly to a place where there's nothing to greet them but a porta-potty."  

Three years and 8 months ago, Cottage Grove resident and Co-Pilot Nadine Kelley decided it was time to do something.  Kelley, along with her pilot/husband Shawn, worked tirelessly with other local pilots, the city officials, the Chamber of Commerce and other organizations to create plans and raise funds to build a new building.  

"It didn't have to be big or fancy.  It just needed to have a clean restroom, a place to check the weather, and a few other minor things that pilots like to use when they pick a place to fly to," said Kelley.  "I didn't know it until later but never in the history of Oregon's Department of Aviation has any community ever raised the funds to build and then donate a building like this to a state-run airport."  

The newly-built Cottage Grove Airport Welcome Center is a tourist information center and rest stop for pilots to gather information about the City of Cottage Grove and discover all of the opportunities that the town has to offer.  Along with the new building, there will be an "airport car" and a couple of bicycles that visiting pilots can use to get from the airport to local hotels, stores and restaurants during their stay.  

Officials from the Oregon Department of Aviation, City of Cottage Grove, Chamber of Commerce, local pilots and other community leaders plan to have a ribbon cutting at Noon, on Tuesday, August 15th to celebrate the historic occasion.  Media, pilots and other interested parties are invited to the Cottage Grove Airport Welcome Center located at 520 Palmer Avenue to help celebrate!

For More information on this story contact the Oregon Aviation Historical Society at 541-767-0244.  The Cottage Grove Airport is the Aviation Gateway to Cottage Grove promoting tourism and becoming an aviation destination.