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Friends of Lone Pine Airport present restoration progress; county to lease Tunnel Air Camp hangar
Summary
Volunteers and county staff described a year of repairs and fundraising at Lone Pine Airport, including terminal restoration, a donated tractor-mower, a youth airplane-build program, and an expected county lease for Tunnel Air Camp hangar tied to volunteer rehabilitation work.
Friends of Lone Pine Airport (FLPA) told the Inyo County Board of Supervisors on March 11 that volunteers and partners completed major exterior and interior repairs to the Lone Pine terminal building in 2024 and are expanding programming in 2025.
Anna Montgomery, FLPA executive director, and program director Karen (last name not specified) described a slate of volunteer work parties that replaced windows, repaired siding, primed and painted the terminal, replaced a front picture window, restored a cupola and bell, and refinished the pilot-lounge hardwood floor. Montgomery said a $15,000 Recreational Aviation Foundation grant will fund remaining interior restoration work.
FLPA also reported a private donation that purchased a tractor mower for field maintenance. The mower was housed in a leased Cessna hangar; FLPA said it also plans to sign a three-year lease for the Tunnel Air Camp hangar and has negotiated a ground-lease-style arrangement where volunteer labor and repairs will be credited against a low annual lease rate while FLPA completes structural rehabilitation.
Public Works Deputy Director Ashley Helms told the board the Tunnel Air Camp lease will appear on the board consent agenda at the next meeting pending one remaining signature. Helms said the lease is structured so repair and volunteer-contributed work will be tracked and credited against the nominal ground-lease rate (stated in the meeting as $525 per year), and that the county had previously planned to demolish the hangar absent a community-led restoration.
FLPA also described inheriting a high-school airplane-build project (Sierra Communities Aviation Mentoring Project) and plans to develop youth STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts and math) programming, working toward CTE credit partnerships with local schools and Cerro Coso College. The group asked for volunteers, mentors and donations; Montgomery provided contact and mailing details and the group's website (friendsoflonepineairport.org).
Supervisors and members of the public praised the volunteers and donors; several board members noted the project’s potential to support local tourism and youth programs. No formal board funding or contract was approved at the meeting; the Tunnel Air Camp hangar ground-lease was expected to return to the board for approval at the next meeting.
