The new Davis Education Center is ready for visitors.
“We’ve been planning the center for years and it’s exciting to see it finally come to fruition,” said John Burton, president of Sun ‘n Fun.
The center is the focal point of year-round education programs, both for young people and adults, on the Sun ‘n Fun campus in Lakeland, Fla. It is capable of accommodating up to 50 students and counselors at any given time, for classroom activities and for overnight stays. There are boys’ and girls’ dormitories, rooms for counselors, and a large common area for classroom teaching. There is a large outdoor patio for more informal classes and a kitchen for food preparation.
“The Davis Center will enhance our education program offerings and opportunities dramatically,” Burton said. “For example, we are planning a number of activities that are possible only in the evening, such as night flight, navigation by the stars, evening guest speakers and aviation-themed movies, and they’re just the beginning of what we are working towards.”
Located near the Florida Air Museum, the center is named for Tom Davis, former president of Piedmont Airlines. The Davis family was on hand for the center’s official opening during Sun ‘n Fun.
Also on hand was Tom Wathen, whose Wathen Foundation has been supporting similar activities at historic Flabob Airport in California. His organization is “so impressed” by the Davis Center that it is using the same architectural plans for an education building at Flabob, he said.
