AIRPORT

AIRPORT. Dubuque's first municipal airport, located north of the city along Sageville Road, was opened in 1928 at NUTWOOD PARK on land the city leased from INTERSTATE POWER COMPANY. The field, leased to a manager, was avoided by pilots who generally found no service and the grounds not mowed. The lease to this manager was withdrawn in 1930.

The second lease was awarded to the twelve young enthusiasts of DUBUQUE AIRWAYS. Concerned about the condition of the field, the men hired Dewitt Collins as manager, instructor and pilot. The twelve businessmen purchased Collins' two-passenger, open cockpit Waco 90 before purchasing a four passenger Stinson Detroiter, known as "Miss Dubuque," for charter.

Nutwood Park proved a poor location for an airport. Surrounded on the east and west by hills, all landings had to be attempted from the north or south regardless of wind. High-tension telephone lines on the north and a swamp and tall smokestack on the south increased the danger. The facility had one runway, a 1,320-foot sod strip.

In 1933 the Dubuque City Council purchased 162 wild and woody acres of CITY ISLAND for $10,000. Unemployed men, recruited by the Civil Works Administration during the Great Depression, leveled trees, ripped out stumps and slashed away underbrush. After extensive grading, two runways, each 2,600 feet long and 100 feet wide, were constructed of MACADAM and cinder surface. The new airport was reached by a road linking the site to the foot of East 16th Street.

Operations at the City Island airport began in June 1934, when two Dubuque Airways planes were flown to the site from Nutwood Park. With no hangars or gas tanks, planes had to be tied down at night. Nutwood Park's metal hangar was later dismantled and rebuilt at the new site, and a new hangar with an office was constructed within one year. Electricity was supplied by a portable gas-powered generator. There were "His" and "Her" outhouses.

Business at the City Island airport was not brisk. Lewis Boxleiter, Collins' successor as airport manager, applied for a low-flying permit and inspected high transmission lines when foul weather prevented linemen from driving over snow-drifted roads. Each spring because of floods the planes had to be flown to high ground in Waterloo, Iowa, or Galena, Illinois. In 1938 sixty-four days of business at the City Island airport were lost due to flooding. The airport flooded from March 31 until April 17 in 1939. It was submerged again on April 28.

Flying instruction began in earnest in January 1940, with the start of the Civilian Pilots Training Program. After the start of World War II, a new hangar was constructed. The navy's objection to the city's inadequate airport led the Chamber of Commerce to conduct a survey as a first step in establishing a first-class airport for the city.

On November 4, 1942, Dubuque voters approved a special levy for the development of a new airport. Land was purchased south of the city in March 1943, for the planned $2.5 million facility. City manager Albin RHOMBERG, Fred WOODWARD of the TELEGRAPH HERALD, and Msgr. M. J. Martin, president of LORAS COLLEGE obtained a $600,000 appropriation from the Civil Aeronautics Administration for a class-4 airport after working with Senator Guy M. Gillette.

Grading, started in 1944, was completed in 1946. Construction work, which included two "T" hangars, was completed in 1948. The City Island airport was closed in September 1948. The Dubuque Municipal Airport was dedicated October 24th. On September 6, 1988, the name of the airport was changed from the Dubuque Municipal Airport to the Dubuque Regional Airport to more accurately describe the service area and aid in marketing.

The airport is owned by the city of Dubuque and operated as a department of city government. An Airport Commission board of people appointed by the city council oversees the airport. An airport manager is hired to run the day-to-day operations.

The Dubuque Regional Airport has received Federal Aviation Administration recognization of its commitment to safety many times. The airport received the FAA’s “Airport Safety Enhancement Award” in 1994, 1997, 2000, and 2003. In 2004 the airport recorded fourteen consecutive years of perfect safety inspections. In 2007 the City of Dubuque announced its intention to construct a larger terminal building, but no timeline was given for the completion of the project.