Near the shore of Lake Washington, a machinist covers his ears as a Boeing 737 taxis toward its first flight. Hours later, a small plane glides in quietly for a landing after a 15-hour journey from Anchorage in Alaska.
These scenes occur everyday at the Renton Municipal Airport; regulars say they never get old.
"I still stop what I'm doing to watch planes come in," said Steve Myers, a machinist who shows three decades of experience on his calloused fingertips. "This is like Mecca in the airport world."
With a long history of recreational and commercial use, the airport is at a crossroads, manager Ryan Zulauf said. Since the late 1990s, when Boeing started to scale back its Renton operation, city officials have been working to create an expansion plan for the city-owned airport.
The city has drafted three proposals for the airport, each with a different mix of commercial and recreational space: All three proposals keep Boeing as the centerpiece and increase commercial use. But the question is: How will the non-Boeing space be divided between businesses and hobbyists?
A final proposal was delayed because noise concerns raised last year brought discussions to a halt. Residents want to see fewer flights to and from the airport to cut down on noise. Airport officials say a limit is not the answer.
And before the city decides how to expand the airport, they have agreed to wait for results of the noise study.
In the meantime, Zulauf expects to see the usual crowd of aviation lovers commercial and recreational.
Karen Johnson: 253-234-8605 or [email protected]
