Airport ceremony marks change of name

Coastal Carolina Regional Airport is now the official name for the commercial airport near New Bern previously called Craven County Regional Airport.

The new name is posted on a stone plaque outside the commercial terminal and on a new brass plaque on an outside wall of the Craven County-owned terminal, which opened in 1999.

About 125 leaders from four counties and area cities and towns were at the New Bern airport for a  Friday morning ceremony that displayed plaques.

They included Rep. William Wainwright, Rep. Alice Underhill and Sen. Jean Preston, who airport director Tom Braaten said were instrumental in getting the name changed during the 2008 short session of the N.C. General Assembly.

"We think this is one of the best things the airport has done this year," said Jim Creech, chairman of the airport authority. The name was changed to reflect the use of the airport - 60 percent of the commercial passengers come from or go to Carteret, Pamlico and Jones counties.

Authority member Bill Naumann, who suggested a name change earlier this year as part of airport marketing, said the change is "the beginning of an important transition from being a destination to being a gateway to our region. The name change is a symbol of a mindset."

Braaten made it clear that the county still owns the facility and thanked Craven County commissioners for recognizing the logic and agreeing to the change.

The airport began as Simmons Airport on Nov. 21, 1931, in honor of Sen. F.M. Simmons, who helped establish the airport. When a Marine pilot crashed during a dedication ceremony display, his name was added and the airport name became Simmons-Nott Airport that same day.

The Marine Corps used the facility, called Camp Mitchell, in the early 1940s while the Marine Corps Air Station was being built at Cherry Point.

The airport was jointly owned by the city of New Bern and Craven County until 1988, when the county took sole possession and renamed it Craven County Regional Airport.

Braaten said told those gathered for the dedication:  "A gentleman once said, ‘If you build 5,000 feet of road, you can drive one mile. If you build 5,000 feet of runway, the world is at your fingertips.'

"We have 6,000 feet of runway and the connections to get you anywhere in the world."