https://caspercollege.cvlcollections.org/files/original/d8907fb46e043d3858942ae2dfd58a36.pdf baeae9d63c83aecfe8ba528cb404481c PDF Text Text Survey of Casper Army Air Base as an Industrial District NATRONA COUNTY AIRPORT Published by Industrial Development Association of Central Wyoming Febrtiary, 1951 �SURTOT or ABMI Alft A3 AM proSTfllAL IHSTRJCT Htgtory Conitruction of t|)e Caspev Aztqr Air Base started in the sunnier of on one of the flm:^t 1?ulldlng sites In Matrons County^ H^ooing* cial gening took place in Xa|iQ September of the sene base was In full operbtlon^ The offi­ and in 19li3 the Tn October, 19iUi< a reduction In operations was no'^dj an4 hy late February of 19li$ activity had ceased entirely^ Thus, a recapitulation shows that In all* the Air Base was In full operation only about two years, plus a three months* construction period* Some thought was given to the reactivation of the Casper Axny Air Base in 19hj& fthd 19U7, but forome reason or another> this consideration did not materialise^ The National Air Guard used the Base for a short time in the summer of 19U9, but until the landing facilities were converted to commercial use by the Natrona County Conmissioners in 1950, this large Base had lain practi cal] y idle during a five‘*yBar span* The Industrial Develc^ment Association of Central ’.Tycming therefore feels that if the Army does not plan to reactivate the Base on a permanent and sound basis, then why can’t it be turned over and operated for other defense efforts, rather than remain dormant except for the limited use how permitted the Natrona County Officials^ General Description The Air Base is located approximately seven miles northwest of Casper, Wycedng, on the rtoirth edge of U»S< Highway 20, Its over-all size totals 3 >300 acres of relatively unobstinicted level land, and the altitude at the apron proper is 5,320 feet^ General Progress In 195O> when Casper’s municipal field just north of the city proved too small for the growing demand of existing air services, this loca- �I p-^ tlon was abandoned aid all eperationa moved to the much larger Air Base, In the past twelve months, two major airlines, Western and Frontier^ have apcosao- dated more than 21,000 passenge^ and handled better th^ 1$0,000 pounds of air freight and express packages* Seth airlines have expanded their services during the past year, and on June 19, 1950, Western filed its i^jplicatton with I the Civil Aeronautics Board for an extension of Route 13, which when approved will not only put Casper on 4 diqact route f^xro Tlinneapolis to Los Angeles, but will also make U the second largest air traffic-center in the Rocky Mountain Region, Since moving to the Air Base, an additional charter service has been added to meet the growihg demands of oilmen, renchera, businessmen and I vacationers^ Whereas only twelve firms housed their ship* at the older airport, now better than forty private plans utilize the hangar and maintenance facili­ ties of the Army field. Sane fifty-five buildings were rented by the aiiport management during 1950, and had the County been able to guarantee long-term leases, this figure might easily have doubled or tripled.. Present users include Platte Pipe Line, Peter Kiewit Sons Cco^any, Loffland Brothers, Fitchies, and other supply and trucking concerns* ters at Individuals are also renting units in the nurses* quar­ per month* Air Base Status Today, the Air Base is on what is known as a "stand-by’ status, its policies being subject to the watchful eye of the Air Materiel Contoand^ The Natrona County Cccimlssioners have been given ’’Right of Entrance," however, and it is entirely possible to visualize complete transfer by April or May of this yeari Waiver of a lien held by the Bureau of Heelanation against the property would clear the title and open the way to a final deeding of the Air Base to the County* One this action has been taken, this multi-million dollar install ation could be fully utilized and made an intricate part of our nation defense �effort* By being on a nonniilitary level: 1 -* T/arehoude and industrial space could be leased on a long-term basia^ Existing buildings could be ccmtsletely renovated, oi^ if in nn>rBpfl^rflb^g state, tom down and new buildi^s erected in their stead* I 2 - Private concerns, such as the Ohio Oil Compare, could go ahead with plans for Cbnstruction pMvate hangars* 3 - ‘Western and Frontier Airlines would feel Inclined to push their expansion programs beyond their present scopes* H • Air Force planes would still have an adequate and nncrowded stop-over land­ ing, mantenance and refueling base available, without the Govenwient having e3q>ended the treniendous outlay of money needed to reactivate the Base. 5 * private industry, handling defense contracts durihg the emergency and con­ vertible to civilian production at a later date, would be decidedly interes­ ted in locating hone and branch plants in what could be known as Casper’s "Industrial District." 6 • Barracks could be used as t€ng>orary housing units for fhctoxy hands until better facilities were built, or until houses medtlfag their particular desires were found in nearby Casper-* 7 • High-octane gasing of non-schedules, such as charteared passenger flights and caargo planes, could be added to the present fueling facilites. Present Alrpoart Facilities In addition to the two major airlines and two charter firms, namely Casper Air Service and Natrona Aircraft Service, the airport lists the fdlldwii^ services and accommodations: Casper Radio Station U.S* Weather Bureau Civil Air Patrol Aiiport Restaurant Airport Grocery There are four major asphalt runways, two of which ore 300 feet in width and 8,66O feet long, the remaining two being 300 feet in width and 8,690 feet long* In addition, a h$0-foot wide concrete ^ron, adjoining and extending parallel to all the hangars, is occasionally used by li^t planes for landings and take-offs during periods of high-wind velocity. "Warehouse space now available: 1 Hangar ............ 213» x 162» U Hangars. ........................ 122’ x 80< 10 Warehouses on railroad tracks* • hS’ x 192 �X Conmissary • • • • • • . • • « 6O* x 15O’ 1 Machine Shop •«.••••••• 161» x 123» 126 Barracks . ...................... 2O» x 1OO» 15 Mess Halls E^hnated rental charges are 200 per square Toot, per Tear* Utilities Pqwer; Existing transformers are adequate to take car of present facili­ ties; as demand increases, larger units will be installed, f.n current is alternating Current, single or three-phase, with primary delivery available at 23OO/lil6O T, and secondary delivery at 115,230 or li6o volts* Industrial rates vary frcra <!^l<50 to 51*25 per K?r for deiaand, and 1^ to 8 mills per K7H for energy^ A 12-inch city water main extends out to the Base from Casper. Jfeteri Siorage capacity ecxxsists of a 265,000-gallon stand^^ipe tank, Mgipleoented by a 200,000-gallon concrete cistern, A punp station, equipped with autaaatic con* trols* keeps the water at proper levels. The Base is now using 1,000,000 gap qw of water per month, supplying small consmaers free of charge and imposing a 150 per thousand*ga3LLon rate on large users, the latter being coaparable to the City’s COTnnerclal rate for unlimited amounts. Average total actua?. hardness fta grains per U,S^ Gallon is 15. Fuel: A Ih-inch natural gas line already exists approximately five miles southeast of the Air Base and will be extended to the area as soon as demand warrants saiae. Northern Utilities, Inc*, owner of this agin, would require a 5-million cubic-foot load per day before extending it free of charge; however, inasmuch as this extension would pass through an already growing industrial area, such a move becomes more feasible every day. laid in 30 days’ time. Line for this extension could be The prevailing commercial rate, based on 7 to 12-raillion cubic-foot annual consuption, is .2h per U. Any consuption in excess of 12- million is classified as "Industrial” and will require a special cdntract. Ccm- plete residential, office and commercial rate-schedules are available vpcn request* ETU at sea level is lOUO-O..6o0sp*g«-6O P* Coal is now being used at the Base for fuel, commercial rates being established by individual contract. �I p-^ Heaters are gratuitously supplied each tenant. Railroad Facilities Tlie station of ’’Cadonra/' as It is called, is serviced by the Chicago i Northwestern Railroad, A siding extending into the Base belongs to the H.S. Air Foixe and is presently irtkintained by the County at its expense. Routings should read: Coming from the East , . C&W Cadorna Coming from the £adt • , CB&Q Orin; C&W Cadorna Coming from the West , , CB4Q Shobon; C&NTZ Cadorna Rate structures are practically the same as Casper and as shipments beccrae greater, an effort will be made to .equalize them. Telephone System Present hook-ups are sufficient to take care of the existing load and should demand increase, an additional twelve c&ble-pairs which now terminate at the Base could be returned to service. An idle distribution system would also be put back in usei Streets, Fire Protection and Kaintenance The Air Base is interwoven with some five miles of black-topped streets, most of which are in good condition#. These avenues of approach offer direct accessibility to dl buildings* There are 100 fire-plugs strategically placed throughout the area# One light-weight crash truck (k5) and one heavy pumper (FordO are at present manned by a volunteer force made up of personnel working at the airports A small maintenance crew handles all trash removal and looks after th© general outside repair of the Base. Sewage Disposal A large disposal plant, capable of handling some 10,000 users, is already available on the Base. The plant would require some repair to put it back in workable condition, inasmuch as it has not been used since the deactivation of the Basel The plant can be run econcmically with a minimum of 1,500 usersthus making its reactivation feasible within a short time. For the present, refuse by-passes the disposal plant and is carried by a small creek to the nearby �North Platte River. Suomary In the event the Air Base is not going to be reactivated, it seems unfortunate that ^ts acreage and facilities cannot be fully utilized for other puarposes. Clear title would enable the Natrona County Ccnmissioners to assure concerns of long-term leases, new construction privileges, ample building space, interior and exterior renovation, and a very favorable utility structure. Being outside the city limits, the property-tax rate • instead of being a 52.252 mill levy - would be only 3^*072, or a 18,1& mill levy saving. The Comnissioners would further encourage the industrial possibilities of the Base by either selling or leasing the land on a very nominal basis. Complete co-* operation can be expected^ Casper wants to take as big a part in the defense mobilization program as it possibly can, and while we are waiting to see whether-or-not the Air Force is going to spend sone 022,000,000 to reactivate the Base, we feel that defense manufacturers looking for improved sites for their branch­ plant locations, with a minimum of over*head and a maximum of security, should be given the t^portunity to move onto the Air Bass land as soon as possible, These privileges should somehow be worked out by the Air Materiel Command, even though it turns out to be impossible to completely clear title to the County, It seems extremely important that the progress made by the airlines. Air Services and private owners should not be wasted; should the Air Base be reactivated - in view of the fact that we understand less than 1,000 personnel would be stationed here - we feel very strongly that the Airlines, air services, and private owners should be allowed to use the Base concurrently, and that ♦ their being peimitted to do so would cause little or no confusion^ Continuing along this line of thought, we further propose that all unoccupied buildings and land be turned into a separate industrial district for defense industries, and not be allowed to stand idle as is largely true today. �Ths Air Filter Center recently located in Casper would give added protection to this area in ease of attack* The fact that Casper has six sources of power, four sources of natural gas, untold quantities of fuel oil available without resorting to rail transportation, and several sources of abundant water, virtually assures us against any shut-off of these three basic industrial utilities* In conclusion, now the ’'decentralization” has become such an important word in the nation’s vocabulary, it appears very evident that Central Wyoming, with its security aspects and abundance of natural resources, with the help of Air Base facilities and its present progressive petroleum induatiy, could become the industrial "HUb of the We st 4’ �'4- * ^•vr>,.- '->*''’ ■ u-;- SV '' K ■■ .-'''''■ '■ “ vinaiTi HUI r ■ V. ’ ■•■ ?fc- • * ♦• ? 5 ' ' t< ' » vwT- MHM •>M ■ >4,***''^' e» « . 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Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Paper Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Survey of Casper Army Air Base as an Industrial District Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="https://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/</a> Date Created Date of creation of the resource. 1951-02 Description An account of the resource Digitized copy of Survey of Casper Army Air Base as an Industrial District containing information about the history, progress, status, facilities, a summary, and scans of maps. This survey was published by the Industrial Development Association of Central Wyoming in February of 1951. Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Industrial Development Association of Central Wyoming Language A language of the resource ENG Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context NCA_01.i.2026.01_AirBaseIndustrial Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource PDF Extent The size or duration of the resource. 10 pages