Glendale to Loan Burbank Airport $5 Million to Buy 16 Acres

The Glendale City Council on Tuesday approved a $5-million loan to Burbank Airport for 4 months to help the airport acquire land for a new control tower and other uses.

The money is a “bridge loan,” to be repaid as soon as the airport sells bonds it plans to issue early next year, an airport spokesman said.

The council passed the measure without debate, by a vote of 5 to 0. The money will be granted to the Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority for 120 days at 9.25% interest.

The airport needs $15 million to buy 16.5 acres from Lockheed Corp., said Richard M. Vacar, manager of airport affairs. Lockheed, which sold the airport to the three cities in 1978, still owns much of the surrounding land.

The airport will use a combination of funds from a bond sale, its own money and federal aid to pay for the land. The airport expects to sell $9 million to $10 million in bonds, but they will not be ready for about 3 months, Vacar said.

New Tower

About half of a 3-acre site on a northeastern corner of the airport, west of Hollywood Way and adjoining a long-term parking lot, will be used for construction of a control tower by the Federal Aviation Administration, he said. The FAA already has the funding for the tower and is expected to complete work within 2 years, he said.

The remainder of the land will be used for parking.

A 13.5-acre site on a northwest corner of the airport, on the southern side of Sherman Way, will probably be used to relocate many private aviation hangars and facilities, Vacar said.

The purchases are part of an ongoing attempt to modernize the airport, built more than 50 years ago, to meet current FAA regulations. The airport terminal--which includes the present control tower--and general aviation facilities and other installations are too close to the runways to meet modern standards. The FAA has ordered them moved.