MAYBVM

82 83 LEESBURG INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT AN ECONOMIC ENGINE FOR THE REGION L eesburg InternationalAirport,located35miles northwestofOrlando,is thecentral hubfor air transportationandbusiness inLakeCounty, Florida.Theairportwasoriginallyconstructed in1942bytheCivilAeronauticsAdministrationasa WorldWar II trainingfacilityfor theU.S.Army.In1946,it wasdeededtotheCityof Leesburgforuseasageneral aviationairport.“Itwasaprettysleepylittleairport,and remainedrelativelysmall after thewar,”saysAlMinner, Leesburg’sCityManger.“Inthemid1970sandearly‘80s, morebusinessapproachedandslowlyitbecame the economicengine that it is today.” Theairport’seconomicimpact totheLeesburgregion isapproximately$64million,annually.Withtworun- waysextendingupto6,300feet,theairport regularly supports flight training,corporate/businessoperations, general aviationaircraft charters,andrecreational/ sport flying,loggingapproximately60,000operations,