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Jul 16, 2023

Scaffolding covers Jack Brooks air control tower for renovations

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Workers traverse a scaffolding surrounding the control tower at the Jack Brooks Southeast Texas Regional Airport. The FAA-owned and operated tower is being repainted, according to Airport Director Alex Rupp. Photo made Monday, May 8, 2023 Kim Brent/Beaumont Enterprise

Workers traverse a scaffolding surrounding the control tower at the Jack Brooks Southeast Texas Regional Airport. The FAA-owned and operated tower is being repainted, according to Airport Director Alex Rupp. Photo made Monday, May 8, 2023 Kim Brent/Beaumont Enterprise

Workers traverse a scaffolding surrounding the control tower at the Jack Brooks Southeast Texas Regional Airport. The FAA-owned and operated tower is being repainted, according to Airport Director Alex Rupp. Photo made Monday, May 8, 2023 Kim Brent/Beaumont Enterprise

Workers traverse a scaffolding surrounding the control tower at the Jack Brooks Southeast Texas Regional Airport. The FAA-owned and operated tower is being repainted, according to Airport Director Alex Rupp. Photo made Monday, May 8, 2023 Kim Brent/Beaumont Enterprise

Workers traverse a scaffolding surrounding the control tower at the Jack Brooks Southeast Texas Regional Airport. The FAA-owned and operated tower is being repainted, according to Airport Director Alex Rupp. Photo made Monday, May 8, 2023 Kim Brent/Beaumont Enterprise

Workers traverse a scaffolding surrounding the control tower at the Jack Brooks Southeast Texas Regional Airport. The FAA-owned and operated tower is being repainted, according to Airport Director Alex Rupp. Photo made Monday, May 8, 2023 Kim Brent/Beaumont Enterprise

Workers traverse a scaffolding surrounding the control tower at the Jack Brooks Southeast Texas Regional Airport. The FAA-owned and operated tower is being repainted, according to Airport Director Alex Rupp. Photo made Monday, May 8, 2023 Kim Brent/Beaumont Enterprise

Visitors to the Jack Brooks Regional Airport have likely noticed the scaffolding enveloping the control tower northwest of the terminal.

The tower is owned and operated by the Federal Aviation Administration, which does its own facility maintenance independent of the county and airport.

"I think they’re just repainting the exterior," said Airport Director Alex Rupp. The work does not interfere with the control tower operation and flights are going on as normal.

RELATED: Developer reveals plans for airport property

The plan to build a regional airport was originally developed by Jefferson County Commissioners in 1941, who purchased the land and began construction the following year.

In 1944, the work was completed and the Jefferson County Airport began operations.

It had three runways, a taxiway and apron facilities, and its first scheduled flight with Eastern Airlines took place in March of that year.

During WWII, the airport served as an advanced training facility for U.S. Marine Air Corps Dive Bomber Squadron No. 931.

RELATED: Military planes make visit to Jack Brooks Regional Airport

"Pilot trainees used floating targets in the Gulf of Mexico off Sabine Pass for gunnery and dive-bombing practice," according to the Texas Historical Commission documentation.

Additional improvements in the airport's size/service capacity and technology were made in the 1950s and ‘60s, including the acquisition of more land, runways, a runway lighting and instrument landing system and a second terminal.

In 1999, Jefferson County Commissioners renamed the facility the Southeast Texas Regional Airport, later renaming it in 2010 to the Jack Brooks Regional Airport in honor of Beaumont's iconic U.S. Congressman.

RELATED: Hurricane Rita airlift saved countless lives

The site currently provides daily flights through American Airlines to the Dallas-Ft. Worth Airport and also serves as a transportation center for regional industry.

In 2005, the airport was at the epicenter of "one of the largest civilian airlifts in U.S. history as the military evacuated thousands of local residents with special medical needs during landfall of Hurricane Rita," according to historical commission records.