US Coast Guard Port Safety Station Heliport

Operational consolidation and redundancy. The heliport was a single pad at the Sector Command office, not a full-service air station. The primary aviation support for the region is provided by the fully-equipped USCG Air Station Houston, located approximately 15 miles south at Ellington Field (KEFD). Maintaining a separate, single-use helipad likely became logistically inefficient and the space was repurposed for more pressing ground-level needs like parking and equipment staging at the busy waterfront facility.

The site is the active headquarters for USCG Sector Houston-Galveston. The physical concrete pad for the heliport still exists, but it is no longer marked or certified for aviation use. The area is now fully integrated into the facility's ground operations and is used as a parking lot for government vehicles and a staging area for response equipment and storage containers.

The heliport was co-located with the US Coast Guard's primary command center on the Houston Ship Channel, which transitioned from Marine Safety Office (MSO) Houston to the current Sector Houston-Galveston. Its strategic purpose was to provide direct, rapid air-to-ground access to the command center. When active, it would have handled USCG helicopters (primarily HH-65 Dolphins) for logistical purposes such as transporting command staff, specialized response personnel (like the Gulf Strike Team), or critical equipment directly to the waterfront during major security events, search and rescue operations, or significant pollution incidents like oil spills. It served as a tactical landing zone rather than a base for aircraft maintenance or crew.

Effectively zero. There are no known plans or discussions about reopening the heliport. Its operational role has been permanently superseded by USCG Air Station Houston at Ellington Field, which provides more comprehensive and efficient aviation support. The land has been successfully repurposed for essential ground logistics, and reinstating the heliport would be operationally redundant and require sacrificing valuable, actively used space.