SRP moving Phoenix helicopter, plane base to Mesa

By Richard Dyer
Mail | X: @RHDyer

Salt River Project is moving its helicopter and aircraft operations from Sky Harbor International Airport to 5 acres at Falcon Field Airport in Mesa.

“Their lease is up there and they can’t renew — they are converting those facilities into something else — so this is moving their critical mission that provides inspections of their facilities throughout the state,” said Mike Smejkal of Stantec during the June 11 meeting of the Mesa Design Review Board.

The board discussed the look and landscaping for the SRP flight services hangar. Smejkal is the applicant. The city of Mesa is the property owner.

A three-bay aircraft storage hangar and a single-bay aircraft maintenance hangar are planned, according to a written project narrative.

“Both hangars will be sized for helicopter and small business jet aircraft. Both hangars will have 24-foot-tall hangar doors. The additional building spaces include shops, administrative offices, utility rooms and support spaces for SRP staff and guests. Interior spaces shall be conditioned and fully sprinklered,” it states.

The hangars are to be concrete tilt-up construction and admin/support spaces will be concrete masonry unit construction, it states.

The buildings are be constructed on vacant land east of Greenfield Road on the north side of McKellips Road. Parking will be adjacent to McKellips, Planner Evan Balmer said during the meeting.

“The site plan is in for an administrative modification,” he said. “Access to the site is from McKellips. They’re providing 44 parking spaces for the site.”

Falcon Field Airport recently updated its planned-area development overlay and has three major zones. The SRP hangar is to be constructed in zone one, a historic district with architecture of the 1950s, Balmer said.

“The idea is for zone one to match the intent of the historic architecture, and you can do that in a number of ways. One is with the architecture of the building itself. The second is through the use of murals to kind of hearken back to the ‘50s aesthetic, which is what the applicant is proposing, You can see the different images of the planes on the building, and that is how they’re meeting the standards for that,” he said.

The all-volunteer Mesa Design Review Board is unique in that its composition is set by the zoning ordinance to include two architects; two from other design professions such as landscape architecture, engineering, urban planning, interior design or other design-related background; one contractor or developer; and two residents, according to the city’s website.

Richard H. Dyer can be reached at rdyer@iniusa.org, or on X @rhdyer. To voice your opinion on this story, connect with us at AzOpinions@iniusa.org.

Richard Dyer
Managing Editor | East Valley

rdyer@iniusa.org

Meet Richard
Richard Dyer has worked at Independent Newsmedia Inc. USA since 1987, starting his career in Apache Junction as a copy editor and being promoted over the years to work as the editor of the Mesa Independent, news services editor for the East Valley office in Apache Junction, managing editor for the East Valley office, news services editor for the East Valley office and eventually also for the newspapers at INI’s then-Chandler office, managing editor again and as a news editor covering Apache Junction/Gold Canyon and Queen Creek. He helped start the Florence Independent while the news editor covering Apache Junction and Mesa news. In January 2023, he became associate managing editor for the East Valley newspapers and in August 2023 became managing editor for the East Valley newspapers of Chandler/Tempe, Gilbert, Queen Creek, Florence, Mesa and Apache Junction/Gold Canyon, while also reporting on Mesa and Apache Junction/Gold Canyon.  

Community: Since 2009, he has worked as a volunteer to design The Blue Guitar Magazine, Blue Guitar Jr. magazine and Unstrung magazine, which are projects of The Arizona Consortium for the Arts; and since 2014, has been overseeing the art submissions. 

Education: University of Arizona with a master of arts in journalism and a bachelor of science in agricultural communication. Also continuing education at Mesa Community College in welding in a metal art sculpture class.

Random fact: Saw his first tornado on May 31, 2010, which was classified as an EF-2, as part of a stormchasing tour group.

Hobbies: He is an artist of welded-steel sculptures, selling his artwork at juried and non-juried art shows.