With private-jet lounge complete, Jackson Hole Airport turns to finding new firehouse site

The Jackson Hole Airport in Grand Teton National Park just built a $55.3 million private-jet lounge for the ultra-wealthy, featuring two-story Teton views, deep easy chairs, a fireplace, catering kitchen and a $22,000 coffee machine. The 21,000-square-foot building replaces a 30-year-old facility that critics called “dingy” and without proper amenities.

Now airport administrators are turning to another pressing need—a building to house fire trucks. To shelter them, the airport may broach a longstanding agreement with Grand Teton National Park limiting development to a 28.5-acre envelope. The prospect of building outside that zone raises questions about prioritizing private jets over public safety and environmental sensitivity.

Public pushback forced postponement of an April 14 community meeting on potential firehouse sites. Airport Executive Director Jim Elwood said the firehouse falls under FAA funding requirements that made other projects a priority, and that considering sites outside the development zone “is not changing the baseline of the park and the airport agreement.”

Some critics question the priorities. “They certainly seem to prioritize those other buildings,” said Scott Guenther, a retired Grand Teton climbing ranger. Brent Blue, Teton County coroner, called the new lounge “excessive in all regards” and “truly a Taj Mahal out there.”