JOHN WEST and LAUREN JOHNSON
Auburn University is moving ahead with purchasing property from the cities of Auburn and Opelika to make way for a federally mandated expansion at Auburn University Regional Airport.
The 11.6 acres of property being purchased is part of the Indian Pines Golf Course, which is owned jointly by both cities. Both cities passed ordinances Tuesday night allowing the property to be sold to Auburn University. Additionally, Auburn University will lease the property back to the cities while Indian Pines redesigns its golf course over the next year.
The university’s land purchase will allow the airport to expand an existing safety zone at the north end of runway 1-8. The Federal Aviation Administration mandates that the airport have a safety zone that extends 1,000 feet beyond the end of the runway. The current safety zone is only 350 feet.
“We’re not extending the runway at all,” said Auburn University Airport Director Bill Hutto. “It’s just a grass graded area so if an airplane has an issue, it can have a longer distance to stop.”
People are also reading…
According to Hutto, the expansion is needed, given both Auburn and Opelika’s growth and the increase in activity at the airport.
“It’s driven by the faster landing airplanes or what we would think of as the corporations and the corporate jets using the airport in support of economic development in our community,” he said. “It’s really good news that we need it and even better news that we’re all able to work together to improve the community.”
Opelika City Council President and Ward 4 Councilman Eddie Smith said the agreement was necessary as the FAA was not going to allow the airport to continue to bring in the size of planes that were flying in and out unless the safety zone was extended.
Smith said the only direction it could go was across part of the Indian Pines Golf Course.
“In the short run, it’s going to take away that treasure that we have, but in the long run, it will be replaced with a better product,” he said.
Plans are in the works to redesign the golf course that is jointly owned by the City of Auburn and the City of Opelika. Smith said it will take about a year to complete.
Indian Pines has already closed the front nine holes of the course to accommodate its renovation. The back nine holes will close down sometime around the new year. The golf course is expected to open back up around November 2023.
“We’re going to take an old worn-out municipal course and breathe new life into it, make it more interesting and I believe more fun for all of our golfers in our community,” said Auburn mayor Ron Anders regarding the project. “I’m very encouraged by what the outcome will be at Indian Pines once it’s all said and done.”
Bergin Golf Designs of Atlanta is behind the redesign and construction on the course. A remodel for the course has been in the works for several years. According to Fred Holton, the PGA General Manager at Indian Pines Golf Course, the entire property is going to be redone. He said a new driving range and a new short game area will be added as well.
“It’s from the ground up,” Holton said. “We’re talking all new infrastructure, irrigation, new cart paths, new hole designs, all new bunkers, grassing, the whole works. It’s basically going to be a whole new facility.”
Auburn University Regional Airport will begin construction on the safety zone expansion after Indian Pines finishes its remodel. That expansion, although comparatively small compared to the Indian Pines remodel, will still mean big things for the economy here in Lee County.
“Everybody was on the same page. Everybody had the same end goal, which was to get the improvement in the airport, or we wouldn’t be able to bring in the businesses that are able to fly themselves in. We have to have an airport that’s big enough to accommodate their planes,” Smith said. “So from an economic development standpoint, it was very important. It was vital to make it happen so that we could continue to get new opportunities to come to town both for us and for the City of Auburn and even Auburn University. It was a mutual agreement, and everybody feels like it was for the best.”
According to Hutto, the development will ultimately be a positive for both Indian Pines and the airport.
“It’s exciting for the golfing world and the aviation world,” Hutto said. “It’s kind of a win-win I think and then we can take care of our aviation community and the golfing community will have a brand-new course essentially when it’s all said and done.”
.