HomeMy WebLinkAboutEasterwood Development 120303bPage 8E Bryan - College Station Eagle
By David L Chapman
Special to the Eagle
Hurried passengers driving up
the wide, well - landscaped en-
trance to the gleaming new
McKenzie Terminal at Easterwood
Airport probably have no idea that
they are about to set foot on a
special area of the Texas A &M
campus. Indeed, the 50- year -old
port has a rich and colorful past
that makes it more than Just a
point of departure and arrival.
In the summer of 1939, Texas
A &M decided to follow the lead of
a few of the nation's leading insti-
tutions of higher education and
combine the romance of flying
with the practicality of the class-
room. Gtbb Gilchrist, then dean of
engineering, requested that his
college be allowed to develop an
airport on the campus to com-
plement the newly proposed de-
partment of aeronautical engi-
neering.
From the beginning, Gilchrist
envisioned the airport as serving
both a training ground for he
ege and as .:
__.udcipal air-
port for the sur-
rounding com-
munity.
By the time
Gilchrist made
his proposal,
the Civil Aeron-
autics Authori-
ty had com- GILCHRIST
pleted preliminary studies and
proposed a 500 -acre site, 11/2
miles from the Academic Build-
ing. Just west of what was known
locally as Lake Shinola.
Airport cooperation gave way to squabbling
In addition, the United States
Army Air Corps Intimated that
some support might be forthcom-
ing because the field would serve
as a midway point between two of
the Army's busiest training bases,
Barksdale Field in Shreveport and
Randolph Field in San Antonio.
IN OUR PAST
Sunday, May 5, 199
War breaks out
However, before anything of
substance could be accom-
plished. Germany attacked Po-
land on Sept. 1, 1939, adding a
new sense of urgency. Thousands
of new pilots would be needed for
national defense, a task well
beyond existing military training
facilities,
The Civil Aeronautic Adminis-
tration immediately inaugurated
the Civilian Pilot Training Pro-
gram which provided federal fund-
ing for ground schools and flight
instruction at colleges and unl-
verslties. However, there was a
deadline for program certification
and Texas A &M's airport was only
In the planning stages. Unless the
school moved quickly, it would
miss a golden opportunity to have
its students trained at govern-
ment expense.
Meeting the CAA deadline was
not Gilchrist's only problem. The
construction and maintenance of
a first -class aviation facility would
be an expensive undertaking. If
the proposed airport had to rely
solely on Texas A &M for financial
support, It had almost no chance
of becoming more than another of
the little grass strips that dotted
the rural Texas landscape. Gllch-
rlst knew he would need continu-
Ing outside support from the sur-
rounding communities.
College Station was, at the time,
too small to provide any meaning-
ful help. Bryan had begun con-
struction of the 250 -acre Coulter
Field in 1938 with funds provided
by the Walter J. Coulter family. In
addition. Bryan had Just ap-
proved $8,500 in airport im-
provement bonds.
On Sept. 21, 1939, Gilchrist
and Col. Ike Ashburn, executive
assistant to President Walton,
met with Bryan's city commis-
sioners to explore the possibility
of making the airport at Texas
A &M a Joint venture. Ashford ex-
plained that obviously the city
and the school could build a bet-
ter facility if they pooled their re-
sources.
Secondly, the existing Coulter
Field was too far from Texas A &M
to be used efficiently for student
training. The proposed A &M air-
port would be about the same dis-
tance from the citizens of Bryan
as the Coulter site. Therefore,
Gilchrist and Ashburn proposed
that Bryan contribute its recently
approved bond funds to the Texas
A &M airport.
The plan was so well received
that a member of the commission
suggested that Coulter Field be
sold and those funds contributed
to Texas A &M. Walter Coulter,
who was at the meeting, agreed
with the suggestion as long as the
new Texas A &M airport used the
Coulter name. The city commis-
sioners tentatively accepted the
plan and appointed a committee
to work out the legal details.
It was clear from the meeting
that the city leaders of Bryan had,
for the moment, "lost interest" in
having their own airport. The next
day the Bryan Daily Eagle report-
ed that Gilchrist's proposal has
been accepted and that there
would soon be a new "Coulter
Field" at Texas A &M.
Unfortunately, this spirit of
cooperation was very short - lived.
Disagreements, student protests,
and a less - than- candid approach
to negotiations all played a role in
creating a climate of distrust.
Correspondence between Gilch-
rist and Bryan Mayor Ivan Lang-
ford Indicates that negotiations
between the two bogged down al-
most immediately and dragged on
through the spring of 1940.
Texas A &M wanted the city's
participation in all aspects of air-
port operation. Bryan wanted to
make a one -time donation, leav-
ing all future costs and manage-
ment decisions to A &M. As nego-
tiations dragged on, Texas A &M
began construction on the airport
in January 1940 and by the
middle of February the newly
graded runways were ready to
train student pilots.
At this point, an unrelated ac-
tion by Texas A &M students se-
verely strained relations between
the school and Bryan. In a dis-
pute over the distribution of first -
run movies, cadets decided to
boycott Bryan theaters in partic-
ular and Bryan in general. Ac-
cording to students who took part
in the "stay away from Bryan"
campaign, it was extremely effect-
ive in placing economic pressure
on merchants. Gilchrist later re-
called that this action so angered
the city commissioners that they
were unwilling to consider the
airport proposal.
That same month, Gilchrist,
perhaps sensing an impasse with
Bryan, began a search for a name
for the new airport. On May 11,
1940, with Gilchrist's recom-
mendation, the board of directors
named the new faculty for A &M's
World War 1 aviation hero, Jesse
L. Easterwood. On May 13, 1940,
the Bryan city commissioners
permanently tabled the A &M pro-
posal.
David Chapman is an associate archivist
at the Sterling C. Evans Library at A &M.