Road map for aviation: North Bay airport set to expand Aerospace Park.

• Author: Ross, Ian
• Position: NORTH BAY

The picture of what future business opportunities can grow out at North Bay's Jack Garland Airport will become clearer when a consultant's report is released this fall.

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City officials didn't hang their heads for very long after losing out to Montreal in landing Dornier Seaplane's assembly plant this past summer. They are plunging ahead with a strategy to expand the Aerospace Park and create a new aviation and industrial park.

North Bay's economic development manager Rick Evans hopes to attract a mix of aviation, aerospace and manufacturing clients to a proposed 526-acre development which will be built in three stages as tenants and infrastructure dollars come in.

With a council-approved draft and subdivision plan in hand, Evans said the response so far from local and outside companies has been "extremely positive."

"It wouldn't surprise me if we had some local companies expand up there."

Serviced industrial land in North Bay is in short supply At the airport, there's an opportunity to use its vast acreage of flat land to build out North Bay's impressive aerospace sector, which employs almost 600 people.

What types of companies might come will be revealed in October when the results of a survey are reviewed by city and airport officials.

In early summer, a questionnaire was circulated to North Bay area businesses to gauge their interest in moving to a larger space at the airport, and also gather passenger numbers to possibly attract a new carrier. Jacobs Consultancy a leading marketing and strategic planning firm, handled the survey and is writing the study which will form the foundation for an airport strategic plan.

The city's development plan shows 202 acres of airside property and 324 acres of groundside property, ranging in size from 2.6 acres up to 31 acres, but those lot sizes will be flexible. The first phase of development would be along the airport's south side in the vicinity of the Aerospace Park where Bombardier and Voyageur Airways currently reside.

There are a few acres of serviced land in the park and near Canadore College's School of Aviation, campus along with a vacant 17,000-square-foot hangar that is ready for occupancy. The city spent $7 million to erect a water tower and is counting on Northern Ontario Heritage Fund and FedNor to assist with sewer, water and power hookups to service potential tenants.

As development later moves on to the airport's north end, the city intends to extend and beef up...