1992 News Abstracts
Orlando Sentinel, Orlando, FL, Thu., Sept 10, 1992:
p. B1, c. 6 -

By Dan Tracy

NEW PARK MAKES GOING TO AIRPORT FUN KIDS CAN PLAY AS ADULTS WATCH THE
PLANES AT A SOLAR-POWERED PARK NAMED FOR JOE KITTINGER.

     Civic and political leaders will gather at the southeast corner
of Orlando Executive Airport this morning to open a five-acre park
that weds aviation, recreation and the sun.

     It will be christened in honor of Joe Kittinger, an Orlando
resident and retired Air Force colonel who flew a balloon solo across
the Atlantic in 1984.

     Starting today, park patrons will be able to watch their children
frolic on a playground as well as keep an eye on the small planes that
land and take off at the airport.

     The park, built with labor donated by the airport and the Orlando
Utilities Commission, lacks several touches that will be added in
coming months. Among them are:

     - An audio system allowing visitors to hear conversations between
pilots and air traffic controllers.

     - An airplane display.

     - A working solar-powered lighting system.

     Although the park is not finished, it has been in the making
almost 12 years.

     Back in 1980, city officials, led by council member Mary Johnson,
started pushing airport executives for park land.

     At one time, the city wanted as many as 150 acres for ballfields
and other recreational pursuits.

     Negotiations became so acrimonious that council members
threatened to hold up financing on a $430 million expansion of Orlando
International Airport, which like the much-smaller executive airport
is operated by a city-backed authority.

     The council approved the financing after securing a pledge from
the authority to bargain in earnest.

     Eventually, the city and airport agreed on the park opening
today.

     One of the more innovative aspects of the park is a solar
experiment being set up by OUC, criticized in recent months by an
environmental group as being indifferent to energy conservation.

     OUC, at a cost of $25,000, has set up a bank of 5-by-8-foot solar
panels that will trap the heat of the sun and use it to charge
batteries that will illuminate the park at night.

     Although the panels are installed, they are not hooked up to the
batteries and lights. That will take another 10 days or so. OUC
officials intend to monitor the performance and look for other ways
the utility can use solar power.

     "It will be a success. There is no doubt," said Robert Aasheim,
who is overseeing the project for OUC.

     "It's something new, something exciting. It's not mundane."

Photo Caption:

Orlando Utilities has set up a bank of solar panels, which will charge
batteries to illuminate the park at Orlando Executive Airport at
night. Photo by Gary Bogdon.




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