Groundbreaking!

Friday, April 11, 1980 was a significant day for finally after years of work and planning and delay, groundbreaking ceremonies were held. Spirits were high despite the controversy surrounding the cost.

Hundreds of business people and county employees turned out to gather beneath the pine trees on the 3,500 acre site, to sip cool drinks and watch as Commissioners Dick Steele, Roland Roberts, Wade Scaffe, Harry Rodda and Doug Taylor, -- appropriately decked out in construction helmets-- shouldered shovels for the groundbreaking ritual. After that, everyone gathered under an over-sized canopy for a barbecue lunch.

Estimated cost was now $53,000,000 and LeTellier, promoted to aviation director that June, had been instructed to "get the airport back on course."

Between May 1979 and January 1980 the size of the proposed terminal had reportedly increased from 158,000 square feet to 276,000 square feet, and from 12 to 14 gates.

Funding was still a concern and Ben Pratt credits Rep. L. A. "Skip" Bafalis for working with the FAA in Washington to obtain a $7,500,000 grant from the government. FAA could not make a commitment for more than one year at a time so local officials launched forward on faith and bond issues that would be repaid by rental and other fees from airlines using the airport.

By 1982, airport construction costs were estimated to be in excess of $93 million, or triple the original figure. Cost overruns became a major issue in media coverage and fueled fiery debates as to why costs had soared and who was to blame.

Actually, the costs were not errors in estimating. In addition, to the expansion of the terminal and the number of gates, an apron where the planes were to park that was originally to be constructed of asphalt was changed to concrete at the insistence of the airlines and a Florida Power and Light right-of-way had to be relocated. All of these added to the cost.

Perhaps the biggest cost increase was due to the unexpected high cost of land acquisition. The price of the land, which had been in the neighborhood of $1,200 to $2,000 per acre in that area had more than doubled by the time the County was ready to go to purchase contract. Condemnation suits, with legal and appraisal fees on both sides, raised the actual land cost to more than $5,000 per acre. Other increased costs included major drainage changes and, at the request of one of the airlines, the construction of a fuel farm -- the three huge tanks where fuel would be stored.

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