Boston Sunday Globe -- NorthWest section
June 6, 2004

Officials consider renaming airfield
Goal is to avoid confusion with nearby Air Force base

By Davis Bushnell, Globe Correspondent

Hanscom Field in Bedford could get a new name.

At the suggestion of the Massachusetts High Technology Council, selectmen
from the four communities surrounding Hanscom Field are looking into whether
the civilian airfield should be renamed to clear up any misperceptions that
it and the adjoining Hanscom Air Force Base are one and the same.

The nub of the matter is there is confusion about the two entities at a time
when lobbying efforts are increasing to prevent the Air Force base and the
US Army Soldier Systems Center in Natick from being closed, Chris Anderson,
president of the high-tech council, told a May 27 meeting of the Hanscom
Area Towns Committee.

The committee is made up of officials from Bedford, Concord, Lexington, and
Lincoln.

Anyone punching in "Hanscom" on an Internet search engine block will find
articles about opposition to commercial aviation at the civilian airfield,
said Anderson, who also heads the lobbying group, Massachusetts Defense
Technology Initiative. That opposition could be misconstrued by Pentagon
officials as being directed at the Air Force base, he said.

Leaders of Save Our Heritage and Safeguard the Historic Hanscom Area's
Irreplaceable Resources, two activist groups opposed to commercial aviation
at the airfield, have said publicly they support Hanscom Air Force Base and
want it to remain open.

The towns committee will take up the issue again at its June 24 meeting, but
it's unlikely that there will be a consensus on a name change for the
airport at that meeting, officials said. Any suggested change would have to
be approved by the Legislature.

Meanwhile, the Massachusetts Port Authority, owner-operator of the civilian
airfield, says it doesn't know what all the fuss is about. Massport
spokesman Richard Walsh said legislation passed in 1941 created the Laurence
G. Hanscom Field-Boston Auxiliary Airport at Bedford. So, since there is
more to the airport's name than simply Hanscom Field, the confusion with the
Air Force base could be cleared up by simply emphasizing the other part of
the name. He admitted, though, the last part of the name has been used
rarely.

Discussion at the May 27 meeting centered on the possibility of floating a
new name, Bedford Airport, with area legislators.

However, that idea was shot down earlier this week, when Bedford Selectman
Sheldon Moll took an informal poll of his colleagues and several residents.

"There was unanimous disagreement about changing the name" to Bedford
Airport, Moll said. Although specific reasons weren't given by anyone
polled, "a connotation [of Bedford Airport] could lead to some negativity
about living in Bedford," he said. "It's my feeling that a name change
identifying the town would have an adverse impact on property values here."

Lincoln Selectwoman Sara Mattes, who is chairwoman of the towns committee,
said Moll's informal survey and views would be taken up at the June 24
meeting. "But we're all trying to overcome a perception that communities are
hostile to Hanscom Air Force Base," Mattes said.

There probably should be "further dialogue," at least, on how Hanscom Field
is referred to in print, Walsh said. In some cases, he said, Massport now
uses "Bedford airport" as a second or third reference in its publications.

© Copyright 2004 The New York Times Company
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==========
**NOTICE: In accordance with 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is
distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in
receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.**
==========