Monday, March 25, 2013
As the Federal Aviation Administration contemplates buying a site for a new air traffic control facility, Congressman Patrick Meehan said the agency should consider federally owned Willow Grove air base.
Instead of buying land in New York to build an air traffic control facility, Congressman Patrick Meehan wants the Federal Aviation Administration to instead make use of the shuttered Willow Grove air base. Meehan (R-7) told Patch that the cash-strapped FAA is in the "preliminary stage" of finding a location for a new air traffic control facility. And, while there is a "preference" for New York, Meehan said that "our region will compete." "We have a strong case to make," Meehan said. The FAA is beginning a 60-day request for information, Meehan said. From there, the administration will respond to those whose submissions were deemed worthwhile. Meehan first broached the topic of the FAA building on the base when the FAA, under the …
Thursday, March 21, 2013
The federal government this week announced 250 jobs coming to the Horsham Air Guard Station, but progress at nearby Willow Grove air base is expected to be much slower.
In the projected time it takes to establish and man a drone command center at the Horsham Air Guard Station, the status of the abutting former Willow Grove air base will be virtually the same. The 862-acre former military base will still be vacant, still be federally owned and its buildings will still be standing, albeit in disrepair, an official told Patch. It will be next March "or thereabouts" before Horsham officials are able to negotiate the transfer of land from the federal government to the Horsham Land Redevelopment Authority, according to HLRA Executive Director Mike McGee. McGee said the HLRA's consultant, Matrix Design Group, is fact finding and gathering information pertaining to the real estate market in the Delaware Valley. …
Monday, March 11, 2013
With a focus on fundraising for its multi-million dollar aviation museum, the Delaware Valley Historical Aircraft Association changed the structure of the organization recently.
Members of the volunteer-run Delaware Valley Historical Aircraft Association have their work cut out for them. In order to "build the museum we want to have" in Horsham, President John Rehfuss estimated that the group would need to raise between $20 million to $25 million in the next three to four years. How will DVHAA do that? For starters, DVHAA is in the process of establishing a board of trustees with former president Retired Major General Ron Nelson at the helm as chairman. "General Nelson is well-known around here," Rehfuss said. "(As president) he didn't have enough time to leverage the people he knows, aviation enthusiasts ... It's kind of hard to run (the organization) and fundraise." DVHAA reworked its bylaws late last year to …
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The Wings of Freedom Museum
1155 Easton Rd, Horsham, PA
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Wednesday, February 27, 2013
The volunteer-run Harold F. Pitcairn Wings of Freedom Aviation Museum in Horsham is working to boost its educational offerings to the public.
Once the fence around the sprawling 1,100-acre former Willow Grove air base come down to make way for homes, a school, a town center and more, future generations may not know its history as a military base, or an airfield. “Fifty years from now, no one’s going to know that Willow Grove base existed,” said Heather Salazar, curator of the volunteer-run Harold F. Pitcairn Wings of Freedom Aviation Museum. That is unless Salazar and the dozens of other volunteers at DVHAA's museum have a say. Salazar, of Willow Grove, who holds a master's degree in military history, joined the museum last July. Since then, she has strived to help “make sure history stays alive in the public’s eye.” Salazar, along with DVHAA, is working on several fronts to …
Wednesday, February 20, 2013
New signage on a 238-acre parcel of the former 1,100-acre Willow Grove air base officially designates about 20 percent of the land as the Horsham Air Guard Station.
The name was selected more than a year ago, following the September 2011 closure of Willow Grove air base, but for the weeks and months that followed, the Horsham Air Guard Station remained sign-less. That is, until recently when signs were installed along Easton Road in Horsham to designate the property, which is used regularly by the remaining military components: The 111th Fighter Wing for the Pennsylvania Air National Guard, the 56th Stryker Brigade for the Pennsylvania Army Guard and the Army Reserve Center.
Thursday, February 14, 2013
Horsham property owners around the former Willow Grove air base will have fewer development constraints with the removal of the township's Airport Crash and Noise Overlay District.
After two stalled attempts, the Horsham Township Council on Wednesday night removed one of the last semblances that an airport had been operational in town. A public hearing in a more-crowded-than-usual meeting room drew no comments as the governing body voted unanimously to adopt an ordinance eliminating the so-called ACNOD, or Airport Crash and Noise Overlay District and to remove development restrictions currently in place. Councilwoman Deborah Tustin was absent Wednesday. The ordinance adoption follows the September 2011 closure of Willow Grove air base and its runway Keith Valley Road goes through what is now the former ACNOD. Commonwealth National Country Club, Deep Meadow Park, Samuel Carpenter Park, Valley View Estates and Lakeside…
Wednesday, February 6, 2013
Band-Aid fixes planned as Hatboro-Horsham School District awaits the transfer of Willow Grove air base from the federal government to local ownership.
If Willow Grove air base takes the projected 20 to 30 years to redevelop "that would be a problem" for Hatboro-Horsham School District's future middle school, according to a district official. The aging Keith Valley Middle School will remain "functionally sound" with minor improvements and modifications for the next seven to 10 years, according to Bob Reichert, the district's director of business affairs. According to a capital projects update presented during Monday night's school board work session, the district recently carried out $117,000 in improvements at Keith Valley, including the $10,000 rebuild of a baseball field and an $80,000 cost to replace carpeting. For 2013-2014, roughly $800,000 in maintenance is planned, including the…
Friday, January 25, 2013
Horsham-based Delaware Valley Historical Aircraft Association received approval to fix and relocate a P-3.
It took six months of red tape, but the Delaware Valley Historical Aircraft Association finally got the go-ahead to access its P-3 for repairs and relocation. Since the space the volunteer-run, Horsham-based group's Harold F. Pitcairn Wings of Freedom Museum is situated on is federally owned, DVHAA has had to make requests to the federal government to carry out seemingly simple tasks like extending its fence line and fixing a plane. During the Horsham Land Redevelopment Authority's meeting this month, officials shared an executed license agreement between the Navy and DVHAA, which would allow DVHAA representatives to access the 142,000-pound plane to repair it and relocate it. HLRA Executive Director Mike McGee joked that the group has "…
Hatboro-Horsham School District officials said its annual disbursement from the federal government in lieu of taxes on Willow Grove air base is ‘guaranteed’ for a few years.
Calling it a “significant victory,” Hatboro-Horsham School District officials shared that for the next few years, administrators will not have to fret about how much – if any – federal aid will be received for Willow Grove air base. Robert Reichert, the district’s director of business affairs, said the district has been working for the last few years to “streamline the funding formula” in order to help stabilize payments. During Tuesday night’s school board meeting, Reichert said the district did just that. For this year, Hatboro-Horsham will receive $1.2 million, he said. For 2014 and 2015, the district is “guaranteed” $635,000 or $640,000 minimum. “We were able to get the past years payments that were due us,” Reichert said of the …
Friday, January 18, 2013
A Horsham resident expressed interest in the shuttered Willow Grove air base being used to film movies.
Instead of letting nearly 900 acres of shuttered Willow Grove air base sit vacant, long-time Horsham resident Bill Randel had another idea. "It looks like a perfect location for movies or a TV program," Randel told the Horsham Land Redevelopment Authority during the board's monthly meeting this week. "Why not notify people in the entertainment industry that you have a large property?" HLRA Chairman W. William Whiteside said the board has done just that. Whiteside, who attends other communities navigating through a military base closure, said "that type of use is available." "The movie industry is aware that the property is available," Whiteside said. But, being "available" simply has not been enough to bring would-be actors and film crews …
Joe
7:22 pm on Tuesday, March 26, 2013
Thanks, negitive Nancy. more ›