Newark-heath Airport has new $5M terminal
Building aims to address safety risks and growth
The Newark-heath Airport is sporting a fresh look with a brand-new terminal, set for an official dedication on Aug. 24.
The new building at 530 Heath Road in Heath was inspired by anticipated growth and development in central Ohio and safety risks created by the old terminal, built nearly 50 years ago.
The airport’s taxiway was moved in 2019 because it was too close to the runway, but its new location was too close to the old terminal and was considered an obstacle by Federal Aviation Administration standards.
And the entire old terminal — knocked down and replaced with airport parking — could fit inside the main room of the airport’s new $5 million building.
The new building is equipped with a pilot’s lounge, flight training, a fixedbase operator’s room, a small kitchen and a large meeting room.
“I don’t really know of another airport of this size that would be as nice a facility as this place,” said Terry Treneff, president of the airport’s board.
Treneff has been involved with the airport for 39 years and served as president of its board for all but a few in the beginning. The airport is officially named the Newark-heath Airport Treneff
Field — after him.
“Apparently, when you stick around too long, they don’t know what else to do with you, so they start to name things after you,” he said.
In the past four decades, Treneff has seen the airport change quite a bit, but in recent years, it’s grown at an exponential rate, especially since the Intel project was announced in January 2022.
Since the development of the Silicon Heartland project began, Treneff says there has been an increase both in the traffic and demand for the airport, which is visible from the Ohio 79 shopping area — especially when planes fly low over the roadway during takeoffs and landings.
Daily takeoffs and landings have in
creased, and 79 airplanes, the most in airport history, are currently based at the airport. An additional 67 airplanes are on a waiting list for when hangar space frees up.
“Well, I don’t have 67 new hangars,” Treneff said. “The problem, if you read airport literature, is that practically every airport in the country wants more hangar space. There’s more airplanes in the country than there are places.”
Of the new terminal’s $5 million cost, the FAA covered about 75%, with the other 25% coming from the Ohio Department of Transportation and Licking County.
“I think the county realized that things were starting to go on (in New Albany) and that it had to be done anyway, and now is a good time to get ahead of it,” Treneff said.
Treneff, along with the other members of the board, are not employees of the airport. For them, it’s a labor of love.
“They double my salary every year, but it’s still zero,” he said.
The airport, which is officially owned by the county, leases the property to Aviation Works Inc., which takes care of
day-to-day operations, such as pilot training, fuel sales and airplane rentals and maintenance.
The goal is to build more hangars on the property in the future, but Treneff said it will take a lot of fundraising from the airport board.
Emmet Anderson writes for Thereportingproject.org, the nonprofit news organization of Denison University’s Journalism program, which is sponsored in part by the Mellon Foundation and donations from readers.