Boca Raton Airport | The History of the Airport

ladies and gentlemen welcome to 1936 a year filled with many amazing firsts in this year the Baseball Hall of Fame included its first members NBC aired the first televised variety show and Boca ratone opened its first and only airport a WPA work Progress Administration project obtained through the efforts of Clarence Henry Geist former owner of the Boca Raton Resort and club in 1941 America entered the Second World War spurring a rapid expansion of the Army Air Corps it need have strategically placed Army Air Force bases the Army Air Corps zeroed in on South Florida established three bases throughout Palm Beach and Dade counties bocas mild climate coastal location flat terrain and available land for expansion made the airport an ideal site for an army base the Japanese American farming community known as the Yamato colony once inhabited the land next the airport but after much of the community dispersed in the early 1900's the land was made available to house the Boca Raton Army Airfield after months of construction the airfield opened in 1942 and continued to expand throughout the war at its peak the base encompassed about 800 buildings on 5860 acres stretching from Dixie Highway to Military Trail and Yamato roads a Palmetto Park Road it took over nine million dollars and 3,500 construction workers to build the base which served over 16,000 troops a year and employed around 1200 civilians though the airfield operated as a base for air sea patrol and away station from planes being ferried to Europe its primary mission was much more unique the airfield served as the training base where all Army Air Force flight crews learn to use radar a then brand-new technology since the airfield was the Army Air Forces only airborne radar training station during World War two it created an ever-increasing need for flight training and aircraft by 1945 100 planes were regularly assigned to the airfield including medium bombers like the Boeing b-17 and the larger faster of b-29 after the war American and allied troops continued to train at the Boca ratone airfield but the numbers consistently declined until 1947 when the Army Air Corps decided to transfer operations to Keesler Army Airfield unfortunately two devastating hurricanes hit Boca ratone before the move could be made leaving the base uninhabitable eventually condemned on December 29th 1948 the tide turned for the boca raton airport when it was transferred from the united states of america the town of Boca Raton with a provision that had be used for the benefit of the public in the 1950s the controlled the land was transferred to the state of Florida and 1,000 acres was released for educational use eventually becoming Florida Atlantic University for over three decades the airport passed through the stewardship of five different government agencies as it evolved to better serve the local flying community in 1983 the Boca Raton Airport Authority was enacted by the state legislature to control the airport cultivating it's a premier general aviation facility and valued community partner that it is today under the authority's leadership the airport opened its first air traffic control tower in the year 2000 in 2015 the airport completed its 9,000 270 square foot administration building constructed to meet LEED Silver certification standards solidifying it as an achievement in energy efficiency and environmentally sustainable design in 2018 the airport opened a Customs and Border Protection facility this has enabled international flights to fly directly to the Boca Raton Airport today the airport boasts 125 T hangars nearly 300 based aircrafts and two full-service fixed based operators serving the corporate recreational and flight training needs of the community while the airport's past this story and its history is rich it pales in comparison to the future we're building together boca raton airport helping our communities soar