My wife and I have four young children who have traveled with us all over the country.
24.10.2024 - 16:57 / thepointsguy.com
What does the president of the U.S. have that you don't have?
Access to the Oval Office, for one.
But you can fix that if you make your way to the airport in the small southern Oregon town of Medford.
Back in 2011, not long after its new terminal building was completed, Oregon's Rogue Valley International Medford Airport (MFR) floated a scheme to sell advertising on its control tower.
That proposal was blocked, but another revenue-generating idea sailed through with unanimous support.
With the help of more than two dozen local sponsors and images found on the internet, then-airport director Bern Case transformed an empty rectangular space on the second floor of the terminal into a meeting room patterned after the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, D.C.
Like the real Oval Office, the airport's Oval Office has long couches facing each other, as well as a fireplace, antique-style furnishings, flags on stands, wood flooring and a rug with a presidential seal.
Realistic wall graphics add "doors" that appear to lead to other White House offices, bookshelves and a trio of three windows offering splendid "views" out to the White House Rose Garden.
There's even a version of the Resolute desk patterned after the impressive oak desk that sits in the official Oval Office that has been used by every U.S. president since Rutherford B. Hayes (except for former Presidents Lyndon B. Johnson, Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford). The Resolute desk at the Medford airport came from 15 miles away in Ashland, Oregon, where it was once used in a play at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival.
Back in 2012, when the airport first unveiled its Oval Office, Case said the airport hoped the attraction would "generate some dollars, add some culture and history to our community and give people something to do."
Since then, the faux Oval Office has been used for everything from weddings, TV commercial backdrops and film shoots to business meetings, catered dinners and election night parties.
Across the state: How Salem, Oregon, got commercial flights back. (Hint: $$)
Anyone, including you or the duly elected U.S. president, can rent the airport's Oval Office for $165 for a full day, $95 for up to four hours or $25 for a 15-minute photo op.
Current airport director Amber Judd says that while revenue from Oval Office rentals makes up a very small portion of the airport's overall budget, she's determined to keep the unusual amenity intact through an upcoming terminal expansion.
"It's a unique thing for the community to enjoy and another reason to come to the airport," she said. And for anyone interested in booking the airport Oval Office on Nov. 5 for an election day watch party, Judd said, "It's currently open and available."
If you
My wife and I have four young children who have traveled with us all over the country.
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