Plan to Rename Toledo Airport After Local NASA Icon Taking Off

A month after Mayor Wade Kapszukiewicz told The Blade of his desire to rename Toledo Express Airport after NASA icon Gene Kranz, it appears the idea is off the ground.

The mayor appeared Wednesday on the Scott Sands Show on WSPD 1370 for his monthly segment and said he’s confident the name will be changed.

“I know we can rename the airport and the law department is researching if it can be done without mayoral edict,” Mayor Kapszukiewicz said on the program. “One way or another, the ball is in the city's court and I can now truly say I believe this will happen.”

The port authority board is next scheduled to meet Sept. 26. John Szuch, chairman of the port authority’s board of directors, said he did not know if the matter would come before the board of directors then.

“I think Wade wants to come and talk to the board,” Mr. Szuch said. “I don’t see the board getting worked up about this one way or the other.”

Mr. Kranz, 85, was born in Toledo and graduated from Central Catholic High School. He was flight director for Apollo 11 and directed the successful rescue mission of the Apollo 13 crew.

The mayor said he has spoken with members of the Toledo-Lucas County Port Authority, who told him they would not stand in the way. The city owns the airport, however it is operated by the port authority.

Mr. Szuch confirmed discussions had occurred with the mayor and said he believes the port authority, which leases the facility from the city for $1 a year, would not object.

“It’s a mayoral or city council decision. They own the airport,” Mr. Szuch said.

Mayor Kapszukiewicz said if a ordinance before city council is necessary, he is confident it would pass. 

“I wasn't kidding when I said renaming the airport was a fitting honor for this man,” the mayor said. “Change is hard, but Gene Kranz is exactly the sort of person you should name an airport after. If you made a list of the 10 people most responsible for putting a human being on the moon, Gene Kranz is on the list.”

Mayor Kapszukiewicz said the cost would likely be between $75,000 and $100,000. He said Central Catholic alumni could possibly donate funds, and the port authority is willing to foot all or most of the bill.

Mr. Szuch quoted a similar estimate and also said he believed the port authority could absorb the cost of replacing signs and other name-related changes, “though I can’t speak for the whole board.”

Joe Rotterdam, the port authority’s manager of airport operations and airline affairs, said such a proposal would go before the port directors once a formal resolution from the city were received, and that resolution would become part of documents sent to the Federal Aviation Administration.

Based on what occurred with the recent addition of John Glenn’s name to Port Columbus International Airport, formal FAA approval would likely take six to 12 months, Mr. Rotterdam said.

There was an effort in 2006 and 2007 to name the airport after Martin Luther King, Jr.

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