Lovell Field expansion took off in 1964
Looking back, 1964 was a landmark year for aviation in Chattanooga.
In the summer of 1964, a $2.7 million expansion of Chattanooga’s Lovell Field — now the Chattanooga Metropolitan Airport — was completed. The dedication in mid-July that year drew a crowd of 1,000 spectators to hear remarks by astronaut Edward J. White, among others.
A veteran of the Gemini 4 space mission and the first American to accomplish a space walk, White and two other astronauts were killed in a fire in 1967 during a test of an Apollo spacecraft at Cape Kennedy (later Cape Canaveral). He had spoken expectantly about walking on the moon one day during his remarks here in 1964, but he did not live to complete an Apollo-era mission.
The accompanying photo shows managers of Eastern Air Lines, then one of the world’s largest carriers, promoting a charity effort here in July 1964. Eastern and Delta were two major carriers serving Chattanooga in the 1960s, but Eastern went out of business in 1991. Labor issues and debt were two contributing factors in Eastern’s demise, according to online sources.
The caption with the photo in the Chattanooga News-Free Press reported Eastern was giving away a 2.5-foot model of a DC-8 passenger jet as part of a charity promotion to help disabled children. A special flight had been arranged for donors to the charity, and the winner of the model would be chosen during an in-flight drawing, the newspaper reported. Pictured in the photo were Archie Low, Eastern’s Chattanooga manager, and Evelyn Ray, the airline’s local ticket agent.
The dedication of the expanded airport terminal at Lovell Field was a pride point for Chattanooga in the mid-1960s. The project
had started under Chattanooga Mayor P.R. “Rudy” Olgiati and was completed during Mayor Ralph H. Kelley’s administration.
A report in the Chattanooga Daily Times read: “Political and business dignitaries, aviation enthusiasts and airline officials, and contributors to the planning and building of the new airport … joined in an enthusiastic salute to the latest symbol of pride in their community.”
Instead of a ribbon-cutting, the event was commemorated by sending the original telegram announcing the Wright Brothers’ successful flight at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, from Lovell Field to The Associated Press bureau in Chattanooga.
Interestingly, the Chattanooga Metropolitan Airport recently unveiled a $28 million terminal expansion, the biggest in several decades.
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