Lynden Municipal Airport officials unveiled their airport kiosk on Friday, Sept. 28 – the first built using the Washington State Department of Transportation airport kiosk design chosen in March.
Kiosks are designed to encourage airport visitors to explore the area and include information about local attractions, landmarks, restaurants, lodging and other points of interest. The kiosks also include information about airport services and amenities.
Volunteer students from the Technic Training Center in Lynden built the first kiosk, with materials paid for by WSDOT’s Aviation Division.
“Our center helps train young people build unique skills and students try and find community projects (to use in their training). This was a great experience for them and took four students about four weeks to complete,” said John Slagle, Technic Training Center Program Director.
The kiosk is located near the airport pilot’s lounge and includes four bicycles for visitors to use. Its location was selected to be visible to both arriving pilots and their passengers.
Lukas Kooiman, 15, was one of the students who helped build the kiosk and attended the unveiling ceremony. “It was such a fun project to do and I’m glad pilots are going to be able to use it,” he said. “It’s a very sturdy and well-made kiosk.”
Airport Manager Steve Banham said he is excited to have the kiosk and thinks having a designated location for information will benefit travelers as well as the airport and community. “Our airport depends on people coming in to buy fuel, so we always encourage people to come in and visit,” he said.
Officials also unveiled the official Lynden Municipal Airport “stamp” for the upcoming Fly Washington Passport Program, launching in February. The passport program encourages pilots to visit public use airports and communities across the state. All participating airports will have a “stamp” pilots can add to their passports.
