On the west end of Patrick Street, a couple blocks from Osceola High School, a new airfield lighting facility under construction at Kissimmee Airport was recently “topped off ”. Called a “lighting vault”, the small concrete block building is a critical component for keeping the airport open and operational at night and during bad weather.
Standard commercial power from the Kissimmee Utility Authority comes into the vault and is then precisely “regulated” by airfield lighting equipment and pushed out to the various lighting systems on the airport. These systems include both runway and taxiway lights as well as precision lighting, which help pilots establish a safe descent angle to land on the airport runway.
The $3.3 million Airfield Lighting Vault project received 100 percent funding from the Federal Aviation Administration. Included in the project is a new emergency generator to keep the lights burning during power outages.
“The lighting system is really the heart of the airport. Without lights we are only usable during bright, sunny days,” said Shaun Germolus, City of Kissimmee Director of Aviation.
The project is expected to be completed in March 2022.
The existing Patrick Street airfield lighting vault replaced World War II era infrastructure, but was constructed well before the airport’s control tower opened in 1996. The later integration of additional lighting controls for use by the tower controllers, who frequently adjust the lights for changing weather conditions, “was never really optimal,” according to Germolus.
The project includes all new energy-saving internal equipment with the latest in lightning protection. The new access road, utilities, and vehicle parking infrastructure can be cost-effectively utilized for the future new air traffic control tower, slated to be constructed adjacent to the Lighting Vault. Funding for the tower project may possibly come through the federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act signed into law in November.
The Patrick Street section of the airport will be the site of other construction as well. Up to 30 additional T-hangar or box hangar units, self-storage for individual small aircraft, are planned by airport business Sheltair. The vacated site of the old airfield lighting vault is a potential location for a future fire station to primarily serve the general vicinity, but with quick access to the airport as well.
As for the airport’s general outlook, airport records indicate both aircraft operations and fuel sales are returning to pre-pandemic levels, with 138,000 flight operations conducted and almost two million gallons of aviation fuel sold in fiscal year 2021. For more information on Kissimmee Airport, go to https://www.flykissimmee.com.
