It may not be wise to base decisions about expanding Lawrence Municipal Airport on predictions of incoming NASCAR teams and fans.
It's exciting to hear estimates of how many private jets might fly into Lawrence Municipal Airport carrying passengers to a NASCAR Winston Cup auto race in Kansas City, Kan., but city officials must be careful not to bank too heavily on projected income from the relatively small number of annual events planned at the racing facility.
The figures being put out by developers of the Kansas International Speedway are impressive. All of Lawrence's 1,000 hotel rooms are expected to be booked for as long as five nights for a major event. Those people will be eating meals and buying gasoline in Lawrence before traveling to the new speedway under construction at the intersection of Interstates 435 and 70.
Having every hotel room in Lawrence booked already is an annual occurrence during Kansas University commencement weekend, but according to a speedway official, Lawrence residents ain't seen nothing yet. A Winston Cup event, he said, is "sort of a cross between Woodstock and the Super Bowl."
The race events will provide opportunities for towns like Lawrence. A main focus for activity may be Lawrence's airport which lies a convenient 15 miles via Interstate 70 from the speedway. It takes an estimated 150 private planes just to carry the NASCAR teams and their owners to a race site. If Lawrence Municipal Airport can attract even 20 or 25 jets carrying track-bound travelers it could be a boon in many ways.
Not only would those jets purchase fuel and rent hangars, they would bring many passengers to Lawrence and increase the chance that they would choose to spend some additional time here. The impact would be tremendous.
But it's only one weekend. And even the best estimates are only that: estimates. Other events, including several large races, will be held at the track each year, but will they attract even close to as much private jet traffic? And will Lawrence provide the local services needed to pull flyers away from larger airports in the Kansas City area? Will lodging and rental car facilities here be convenient enough for travelers accustomed to high-end services?
Based partially on the NASCAR predictions, Lawrence's Aviation Advisory Board plans to ask the city to move ahead on about $3.65 million in improvements at the airport. Federal grants would be expected to pay for about 90 percent of the work, but the city would have to come up with the rest of the funding along with providing any additional water and sewer services that are needed.
Those improvements could, of course, be used the rest of the year, when NASCAR-associated air traffic isn't crowding the airport. Advocates say the improvements would have a variety of economic benefits, including possibly attracting a manufacturer of in-flight de-icing equipment and other aviation-related firms. An expanded runway might better accommodate traveling Kansas University teams and administrators, and increased corporate jet traffic would generally increase the city's exposure and prestige with potential residents or businesses.
As Lawrence city commissioners consider whether to move ahead with airport improvements, their major focus must be on the non-NASCAR benefits of expansion. Additional race-week traffic could be a boon for the airport, but the city will be responsible for paying for and maintaining those facilities the rest of the year. If the year-round benefits justify the improvements, then the city should move ahead. If not, making major improvements to serve NASCAR traffic probably isn't a good investment.
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