Hah...I’m in Charlotte and had no clue Gastonia had a municipal airport. Kinda odd being that Gaston County is right next to Charlotte Douglas Intestinal Airport. (darn auto-corekt)
You mentioned an increase in population. The main reason for that probably is the somewhat new addition of the (Ever Under Construction) I-485 Beltway...allowing many folks to escape from Mecklenburg County to Gaston County. What used to be an hour drive can now be done in 20 minutes ...depending on the time of day, and where you’re leaving from and what part of Gaston your driving to. Huge bit of urban planning.
I’m in NE Columbia but on kind of a weird standby work from home thing for a few days. A day trip is out. I’d love to go.
The airport the last time I saw it, maybe 20 years ago was a tiny place.
Gastonia was kind of fun and good to visit up until hurricane Hugo. That event kind of knocked the life out of the place.