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10th
Jan 2024
Jan 2024
New Hangar Coming to Miller Airpark
By Eric San Juan
Ocean County Airport, better known locally as the Robert J. Miller Air Park, will be receiving an expansion allowing for more and larger aircraft, thanks in part to a $300,000 federal grant.
The funding comes as part of the federal Airport Infrastructure Grant program. Congressman Chris Smith helped push for the grant to be approved.
Known colloquially as Miller Airpark, the airport covers 822 acres off Route 530 aka Pinewald-Keswick Road, on the south side of the Holiday City and Silver Ridge Park communities. It is located in Berkeley Township, with portions of the site in Lacey Township.
Ocean County Commissioner Joseph Vicari said the expansion is needed because demand for the airport is growing – and that, he said, is vital to the county for several reasons.
“The Ocean County Airport plays an integral role in Ocean County's economy and also our public safety,” Vicari said in a written statement. “This new hangar, once completed will provide six units for storing larger general aviation aircraft.”
In addition to private planes and corporate jets, emergency services, include the New Jersey Forest Fire Service, Civil Air Patrol, Ocean Air Support Squadron, and others all use the airport.
The project to build the new hangar is expected to go out to bid in February, with work beginning as soon as this spring. Don’t expect an increase in air traffic any time soon, the construction project will take about two years. The federal grant will help offset the cost, but the total budget is still expected to be around $4 million.
The hangar will be roughly 20,000 square feet and will be able to accommodate slightly larger aircraft than the five hangars already on the site. Some aircraft owners have already inquired about space.
The upgrade is just the latest in a long line of improvements at Ocean County Airport. The facility opened in 1968 and in 1970 was named after former Freeholder Robert J. Miller, who died in an air crash in 1969 at the airport that would take his name.
Since opening, it has had new runways added, new hangars, a terminal building, and more. Since 1991, some $42 million in upgrades have taken place at the facility. Much of that money has come from grants.
“About $32 million has come from grants from the Federal Aviation Administration and the New Jersey Department of Transportation,” Vicari said.
The facility is not merely for private pilots and regional emergency services. Small commercial and corporate flights travel in and out of Ocean County Airport. It is what is known as a “precise approach facility,” with two runaways, a heliport, and more.
In 2022, there were roughly 38,550 operations in and out of the airport, or 106 per day. Roughly 64 aircraft are based out of the facility.
To view traffic in and out of the airport via NOTAM, use airport code MJX.
Robert J. Miller Air Park is home to more than just Ocean County Airport. It is home to a picnic area, one of the county’s two off-leash dog parks, and each year, it hosts the
Ocean County Fair.