Airport presented with proposal for Armstrong statue

NEW KNOXVILLE — Santa Monica film producer Steven Barber is shooting for the moon and wants to place a statue of astronaut Neil Armstrong, with a $250,000 price tag, at the airport bearing his name.

Airport Manager Ted Bergstrom shared the news with authority members Tuesday during the group’s January meeting.

The film maker and space enthusiast previously brought an Apollo 11 monument to the Kennedy Space Center for the 50th anniversary of the mission. That monument depicts the moon landing.

In Barber’s first fundraising effort for the monument, Quicken Loans provided $750,000 toward the project.

With the success of that project, he has set his goals high and wants to memorialize Apollo missions 11 through 17, including a statue at the county airport.

Barber got in touch with NASA, and talked about the project with Jim Lovell, who supported it. He has funded another statue for Apollo 13 located at the Houston Space Flight Center; that project received funding from Granger, a large industrial supplier.

The new terminal building caught Barber’s eye and last fall he had reached out to the airport about a statue of Armstrong. He also started reaching out to area businesses about funding a statue for the airport.

Barber said he would be requesting local donations to back the project and Auglaize County Administrator Erica Preston said commissioners still want to know more about the project before moving forward.

Airport authority members remain cautious. Board President Brent Richter questioned the price of the project, while Bergstrom said he would feel more comfortable with a service contract involved.

Also on Tuesday, board members discussed a utility service fee to recover costs associated with water consumption and sewer costs at area hangars. Bergstrom considered a flat fee to potentially add on to the rent. That conversation was tabled.

Bergstrom reported the interior wall and ceiling of Hangar F were painted and an epoxy floor has been installed.

Board members also voted to approve a $9,000 quote by Baumer Construction for repairs to the exterior of the building.

He also reported that details for a generator for the new terminal are being finalized with Vectren Inc. with the cost not to exceed $13,000.