Port mulls annual air show

MOSES LAKE — The Port of Moses Lake is considering hosting an annual air show to both draw tourists to Moses Lake and show off to the community what the Port does.

“We have a unique facility that looks underutilized, but it’s used more than anyone knows,” said Port Commissioner Darren Jackson.

Rich Mueller, the Port’s director of operations, said that there currently is no “big draw” for tourists in Central Washington, and that there is little coordination of the many city festivals — such as Ephrata’s Sage and Sun or Othello’s Sandhill Crane Festival — in the region.

It would also help local residents — who pay taxes to support the Port of Moses Lake — understand a little better what goes on at the Port.

“We have an obligation to do thing for people who live here,” said Commission President David “Kent” Jones.

More than a century ago, the Washington legislature empowered local voters to create publicly owned and managed port districts as a way of promoting industry, trade and economic development. Ports have the ability to tax and borrow, and the Port of Moses Lake currently levies a tax of 45-cent-per-$1,000 of assessed value on property located in the district.

While an air show in Moses Lake is currently only an idea, Port commissioners directed staff to “keep going forward” and find out what it would take to plan and promote one.

Commissioners also looked at several proposals for a small park and aircraft viewing area to honor Clyde Owen, the last commander of Larson Air Force Base and the first director of the Port of Moses Lake.

The park, which would also double as an aircraft viewing area, would be built immediately east of the terminal building, which also hosts the Port’s offices. The garden would also hold a memorial to the three Japan Air Lines flight crew members who were killed in June 1969, when their four-engine Convair CV-880 crashed during a takeoff exercise.

Recently, Job Corps students rebuilt a small stone memorial to the JAL crash out near the airport’s short assault runway.

The garden would also have space to honor future long-term Port employees.

“This is not just for Clyde, but we’re doing it because of him,” Jones said.

Charles H. Featherstone can be reached via email at countygvt@columbiabasinherald.com.