Manatee County getting flight observation deck near SRQ airport
BRADENTON, Fla. - From the backside of the Sarasota Bradenton International Airport, off 15th Street East it’s common to see cars pulled over waiting for a glimpse of a plane taking off.
"I’ve been coming out here probably since I was six," said Taylor Butler, a Manatee County resident. "Me and my mom used to grab lunch, and then we’d sit out here and watch the planes take off."
Butler still takes lunch breaks here to watch planes take off and land.
"You don’t usually get a view like this," he said.
The airport and Manatee County recognize how important the spot is to residents and visitors. A $2.2 million dollar project is in the works for a flight observation deck.
The cost will be split between the airport authority and Manatee County.
"We are doing about 200 million dollars worth of projects. This is our smallest project and yet it probably gets the most ohs and ahs from people when they see the renderings," said Rick Piccollo, Sarasota Bradenton International Airport president and CEO.
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Piccollo said the area will be paved, landscaped and barriers will also be put up to protect people from passing cars.
That’s not all.
"There will be seating areas. It’ll have covers in a sense so you won’t be out in the sun or the rain. It’ll have an aviation themed playground that is being sponsored by Allegiant Airlines. It’ll also have some historical pictures, and it’ll have a speaker system there so you can hear the tower transmissions," said Piccollo.
The project is expected to break ground within a month. The new flight observation deck is expected to open in late fall or early winter.
It’ll bring plane spotting to an elevated experience.
"It’s going to be really nice, going up and down this road and trying to pull out isn’t always the safest. And then being able to take advantage, to sit outside the truck will be nice too," said Butler.
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