History
Originally known as Madison Army Airfield, Truax Field was activated as an Army Air Forces airfield in June 1942 during World War II. During the war it was used by the Army Air Force Eastern Technical Training Center, a major school operating at Truax AAF for training radio operators and mechanics, and later expanded to training in radar operations, control tower operations and other communications fields for the Army Airways Communication Service. A special unit established in 1943 trained radio operators and mechanics on B-29 Superfortress communications equipment. The host unit on the airfield was the 334th (later 3508th) Army Air Force Base Unit. On September 17, 1945, the airfield's mission was changed to that of a separation center, and it was closed as an active AAF airfield on November 30, 1945.
Conveyed to local civilian authorities, the Madison Municipal Airport also became the home of the Wisconsin Air National Guard and its present day 115th Fighter Wing (115 FW), an Air National Guard fighter wing operationally-gained by the Air Combat Command (ACC) and which still operates from the base, flying the F-16 Fighting Falcon.
A 31,000 square foot terminal building was built on the west side of the airfield. The cost of the new terminal was $2.36 million, and it opened on December 15, 1966. In 1986, the airport tripled in size with a $12 million project that expanded the terminal from 32,000 square feet to 90,000 square feet, adding a second level concourse with six boarding bridges.
In 2006 the airport completed a $65 million expansion that doubled the size of the terminal, built in a Frank Lloyd Wright-influenced prairie style designed by the Architectural Alliance based in Minneapolis. New features include more restaurant and retail area post-security, an art court, and both business and family lounges. As has been the case in the past decade the airport has once again been adding additional parking since 2007. The new terminal holds 13 gates with jetways, WiFi, 6 restaurants, family and business gathering rooms, and an art gallery.
Read more about this topic: Dane County Regional Airport
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—D.H. (David Herbert)
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—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)