Dr. R. J. Thoen, 1024 7th Ave., yesterday recalled what happened to his home town in urging approval of a $700,000 bond issue for construction of a new runway at Lewiston Airport.
A native of Iowa City, home of the University of Iowa, Dr. Thoen said the airport there was an important point on the transcontinental route of the air lines. It was the first stop out of Chicago.
But as airliners grew larger, there was a need for longer runways, Dr. Thoen said, and Iowa City was not able to finance improvements. The Cedar Rapids field, about 15 miles away, was improved as the need arose, he said. Today Cedar Rapids is the area’s air terminal and Iowa City is served by about two twin-engined DC3s per day, he said.
When the University of Iowa football team leaves for a game away from home, it has to go to Cedar Rapids to board a plane, the doctor said. Teams arriving to play the university land at Cedar Rapids.
The proposal for a $700,000 bond issue for construction of a 6,500- foot runway here will be on the Nov. 6 general election ballot. The longer runway would permit large jet and multi-engined planes to land here. Football teams arriving to play the University of Idaho or Washington State University have landed at Spokane because runways at the Lewiston and Moscow-Pullman airports are too short for large, fully loaded planes.
Airport improvements, Dr. Thoen said, “are quite vital as far as a community is concerned. If they don’t have adequate service it is difficult to interest prospective industries that will require that type of transportation.”
This story was published in the Oct. 8, 1962, edition of the Lewiston Tribune.
