History
- For the World War II use, see: Alachua Army Airfield
Construction of the airport began in April 1940 as a Works Project Administration project. In 1941 initial construction was completed. Upon conclusion of the construction by the United States Army Corps of Engineers, the facility was known as the Alachua Army Airfield and was used by the Army Air Corps and the Army Air Forces.
At the end of the war, the airfield was declared surplus in September 1945 and turned over to the Army Corps of Engineers on October 1, 1946. The War Assets Administration deeded the facility to the city of Gainesville in 1948 as a civil airport. At that time, the field was known as the John R. Alison Airport and also as the Gainesville Municipal Airport. The city operated, maintained, and improved the airport over the years as the Gainesville Municipal Airport.
In order to recognize the role the airport carries in meeting the regional demands for aviation services, the airport was renamed the Gainesville Regional Airport in October 1977. The airline passenger terminal was dedicated to John R. Alison in 1979.
In 1986, the State Legislature passed a bill that established the Airport as the Gainesville-Alachua County Regional Airport Authority. The Airport Authority, which consists of nine board members, five selected by the City of Gainesville, three by the Governor and one by Alachua County, continues to oversee the Airport to date.
On October 31, 2004, Gainesville Regional Airport hosted Air Force One during George W. Bush's re-election campaign. 17,000 people attended the event.
Read more about this topic: Gainesville Regional Airport
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“Properly speaking, history is nothing but the crimes and misfortunes of the human race.”
—Pierre Bayle (1647–1706)
“The greatest horrors in the history of mankind are not due to the ambition of the Napoleons or the vengeance of the Agamemnons, but to the doctrinaire philosophers. The theories of the sentimentalist Rousseau inspired the integrity of the passionless Robespierre. The cold-blooded calculations of Karl Marx led to the judicial and business-like operations of the Cheka.”
—Aleister Crowley (1875–1947)
“Look through the whole history of countries professing the Romish religion, and you will uniformly find the leaven of this besetting and accursed principle of action—that the end will sanction any means.”
—Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772–1834)