The Crookston Airport Commission met Wednesday morning and their main topic of discussion was considering a name change for the Crookston Municipal Airport.
Commission Chairman Fred Parnow said the commission will recommend a name change to the City Council. “The main item on the agenda was the name change which is currently, Crookston Municipal Airport and serves our community very well,” said Parnow. “But over the last while, last several years, the airport has truly been used for folks out of the area both coming and going. So, the decision was made to recommend to the City Council that we change the name to Crookston Regional Airport.”
Commissioner Rob Tollefson, who is a pilot, told the commission he believed the name change was representative of the amenities Crookston’s airport provides. “A lot of times as a pilot when I’m flying cross country flights and I see regional airport I’m thinking larger runway, better lighting, better approach facilities, and facilities in general,” said Tollefson. “Usually there is going to be a mechanic on the field, hangar space, or stuff in that line. Crookston has all of those and it’s supports all of those well.”
The full name of the airport is Crookston Municipal Airport Kirkwood Field and the only change would be to replace Municipal with Regional according to Parnow. “For many, many years the actual name of the field is Kirkwood Field,” said Parnow. “Named after the mayor many years back when the airport was originally put together. We’re looking at refreshing some signage out by the highway. And it will kind of gives a fresh appeal to the airport, the services offered out there, and the path forward.”
The airport property is also called Kirkwood Field after former William Kirkwood who as Mayor of Crookston in the 1940s was very interested in airport construction and development which led to the activation of the Crookston Airport in 1947 according to airnav.com. Previously, the grounds had been used for a U.S. Army Glider Training School in conjunction with the Northwest School of Agriculture beginning in September 1942 according to the September 1942 edition of The Northwest Monthly.
With the recommended change, staff with the city will begin looking at sign options to present to the commission. The commission also reviewed a map of the crop requirements for the airport now that runway 6/24 has been decommissioned, which will be added to the cash farm lease agreement for the farmland at the airport according to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) regulations said Parnow. “We also had a discussion on the crops with FAA and MnDOT regulations for what can and can not be planted on that section of land,” said Parnow. “It refers to the visible distance pilots can see when they come and go. Those crops can’t interfere with their visual line of sight for cross traffic. It’s very clear that MnDOT and the FAA have requirements on that, so the existing agreement (for acceptable crops) will not change with the land tenant.”
