Julie McDonald Commentary: South County Residents Support Self-Sufficient Airport With Existing Runway

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We had recently moved to Washington State when Vancouver Mall opened in 1977, and I wondered why they built a mall in the middle of nowhere.

At that time, the only other significant development in the agricultural area five miles east of town was the Evergreen Airport, a small family-owned airport on 68 acres with two 2,000-foot-long runways.

Growth followed rapidly.

Before long, residents who moved into new homes east of Vancouver began complaining about Evergreen’s air traffic—despite the fact that the airport was built by Wally Olson in 1946 and existed long before nearby housing developments and strip malls.

I remember how silly it seemed for people to complain when they knew the airport existed before they moved there. The airport survived as home to a tailwind flight training school, steel tube and fabric repair shop, airpark with about 30 homes, the Northwest Antique Airplane Club and its annual Evergreen Fly-In. After Olson died in 1997, the family operated the airport until July 2006, when it closed.

In 1991, we bought a house not far from the Ed Carlson Memorial Field three miles north of Toledo. The airport, which has one runway measuring just under 5,000 feet, is home to 18 aircraft — 17 single-engine airplanes and one multi-engine, according to AirNav.com.

We never imagined anyone would consider converting the tiny rural airport into a gigantic commercial airport. But that’s what happened when the Lewis County Board of Commissioners offered the 97-acre South Lewis County Airport to the Washington Commercial Aviation Coordinating Committee for consideration as the new Sea-Tac 2.

Commissioners have since said the county has no chance of landing the large commercial airport, but residents have rallied anyway to fight plans to expand the airport.

At a meeting Tuesday, 15 people developed a mission statement: “The Citizens for Responsible Aviation in Toledo advocates the development of a self-sufficient airport while maintaining the current 2020 airport runway footprint.” They also created a vision statement: “Our vision for the South Lewis County Airport is to protect our natural rural environment by partnering with the county on future airport-related decisions affecting citizens and communities throughout our region.”



The group’s next meeting is Oct. 27 at Steamboat Landing in Toledo.

Those gathered last week encouraged people to submit comments to the state committee through Christina Crea with Washington State Department of Transportation Communications at CACC@wsdot.wa.gov or by calling 360-810-0902.

The next virtual state Commercial Aviation Coordinating Committee meeting is tomorrow from 8 a.m. to noon. The link is bit.ly/OctCACC2020. The committee’s goal is to narrow potential sites first to six and then to two.

This summer saw improvements at South Lewis County Airport as workers completed a $3.2 million taxiway and runway repainting. Work began the first week of May and finished in August. In an Oct. 13 General Aviation News article, airport system manager John Roe described the work as a “major facelift” of the “old and crumbling taxiway.” The airport now features 138 blue lights along the edge with new numbers and a centerline visible for the first time in years. The project was funded through a Federal Aviation Grant (90 percent), the state Department of Transportation (5 percent) and Lewis County (5 percent).

The airport was established in 1940 when the Civil Aeronautics Administration created a 4,700-foot-long landing field on Cowlitz Prairie north of St. Francis Xavier Mission, according to the Toledo Community Story. The agency erected a 75-foot metal tower with a beacon light and added a communication station in May 1941. During World War II, the agency enlarged the runway to 5,000 feet long and 150 feet wide and paved it. In 1950, an Airport Commission organized by Toledo, Winlock and Lewis County took over operation of the Toledo-Winlock Airport. The Toledo Flying Club built the first hangar in 1941, and a gasoline pump was installed in 1945. By 1953, the airport also housed a weather station. When Mount St. Helens erupted in May 1980, the Toledo-Winlock Airport served as a major search and rescue center as the closest landing field to the volcano’s rim. On Christmas Eve 2001, Lewis County took full control of the South Lewis County Airport.

That’s a bit about the airport’s past. Who knows what’s in its future?

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Julie McDonald, a personal historian from Toledo, may be reached at chaptersoflife1999@gmail.com.