{"id":23714,"date":"2019-01-26T17:04:54","date_gmt":"2019-01-26T17:04:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/uncategorized\/2019\/01\/26\/seabees-marines-rebuilding-tourist-islands-runway\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T19:15:34","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T19:15:34","slug":"seabees-marines-rebuilding-tourist-islands-runway","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/news\/your-navy\/2019\/01\/26\/seabees-marines-rebuilding-tourist-islands-runway\/","title":{"rendered":"Seabees, Marines rebuilding tourist island\u2019s runway"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

AVALON, Calif. \u2014 U.S. Marines and Navy Seabees<\/a> are rebuilding the mountaintop runway on storied Santa Catalina Island,<\/a> a tourist destination off the Southern California coast.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

About 100 Marines and sailors began working on the island this month under an agreement with the I Marine Expeditionary Force at California\u2019s Camp Pendleton and the Catalina Island Conservancy<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The work on Catalina\u2019s Airport in the Sky is paid for by $5 million donated to the nonprofit land trust.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, the group isn’t paying the Marines and sailors for the work, which the military considers valuable training.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The conservancy had been patching the runway at a cost of about $250,000 a year until the state Department of Transportation’s aeronautics division said it needed a long-term repair plan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The trust then partnered with the Defense Department\u2019s Innovative Readiness Training Program, which looks to match up the needs of communities with military training opportunities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The airport closed in December, when tons of construction supplies were sent over from the mainland.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The military set up an encampment at the airport and began work to replace the existing asphalt with concrete.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Marines and Navy Seabees rebuilding the mountaintop runway on storied Santa Catalina Island, Calif., on Friday. (Damian Dovarganes\/AP)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The airport dates to 1941, when it was built by leveling two mountaintops and filling in the remaining canyon to create the 3,000-foot (914-meter) main runway, which sits at an elevation of about 1,600 feet (488 meters) about 10 miles from the city of Avalon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One end of the runway has a huge drop-off and using it has been likened to landing on an aircraft carrier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The runway is expected to reopen in April.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The renovation is expected to give the runaway a 75-year life.<\/p>\n\n\n\t