James Corrigan, who took over as Executive Director of Craig Field Airport and Industrial Authority earlier this year, has big plans for the once dynamic location so integral to Selma’s economic survival.

Corrigan was a fighter pilot and was serving as a T-38 instructor when the airfield closed down military operations in 1977. Having recently retired as a Captain with Delta Airlines, Corrigan brings an immense amount of history and knowledge to his position at the helm of Craig’s revitalization.

“I saw how Craig used to be,” Corrigan said, remembering the field’s heyday. “When I got here, I noticed there wasn’t a plan in place to improve it. We are a diamond in the rough, but we’re a rough diamond.”

For his part, Corrigan envisions a two-pronged strategy for increasing Craig’s appeal – aviation and housing.

As far as housing is concerned, Corrigan is already leading an effort to trim all of the bushes and limbs surrounding the roughly 280 housing structures in the Craig Field area, more than 200 of which belong to local homeowners and more than 60 of which are designated for Section 8 Housing.

To Corrigan, this effort will do more than simply improve the curb appeal of the area, it will also act as a way of stemming crime in the area.

“It had been a higher crime area,” Corrigan said. “It’s just a reflection of Selma.”

To that end, Corrigan is currently working with Alabama Power to have more streetlights installed in the area and just signed a separate contract to have security cameras installed, which should be done shortly after the Christmas holiday.

“Those residents deserve to live here safely,” Corrigan said. “What I want to do is reduce that crime.”

In addition to upgraded security and beautification efforts, Corrigan has also worked to strengthen the area’s Homeowner’s Association and has applied for grants to cover the cost of demolishing boarded-up and uninhabitable buildings.

“If you’re a homeowner, you don’t want to live on a block with boarded up houses,” Corrigan said.

Once the buildings are demolished, the left over space will be left green to further increase the curb appeal of the area.

Corrigan is also working with local churches to offer youth ministries and tutoring programs in the field’s community center, which is currently being cleaned up and renovated.

“We’re just getting out of the blocks on that,” Corrigan said. “We’re just trying to make a better environment for the folks that live out here.”

On the aviation side, Corrigan has ambitions of being able to attract more businesses by renovating and upgrading the runways and hangars on the old base.

The old airfield has about 70 acres of old parking concrete.

“That is a blessing but it is also a burden,” Corrigan said.

Pressure washing and other cleaning efforts are ongoing on the field’s taxiways to make the space more appealing to aviation businesses, those looking to do “maintenance, repairs and operations” to aircrafts, and ensure the safety of any vessel that occupies the space.

Corrigan is currently working with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to reseal the runways.

“We’ve got to preserve what we have,” Corrigan said. “I want to show Craig’s best side to businesses that want to come here.”

Corrigan is currently negotiating a military fueling contract, which will work in conjunction with Craig’s already active civilian fueling operation, and should find out by March whether Craig will get the job. If so, Corrigan plans to visit local airfields to pitch the new service and invite local area national guard posts to use the space.

“We’re looking forward,” Corrigan said. “We’re ready, but there’s a lot of improvements I want to make.”

Though Corrigan admits that there’s a long way to go before his vision becomes reality, he’s confident that he can get the job done and provide “the biggest economic impact in the Selma area.”

“I want Craig to be ready for business when a business comes in,” Corrigan said. “If we don’t have a strategy, our plan is hope. Hope is not a strategy. We’re moving forward and we’re looking to make this a better place for business and a better place to live.”