Federal aid could put airport on the map
Published 12:00 am Wednesday, May 16, 2001
A seven-year, $4.
Wednesday, May 16, 2001
A seven-year, $4.3 million improvement plan for the Albert Lea Municipal Airport includes new facilities, better lighting and a longer runway.
According to airport manager Jim Hanson, the plan would literally put the airport back on the map.
&uot;To some pilots we aren’t even on the map,&uot; Hanson said. &uot;The projects we’re talking about in the improvement plan are designed to make us a more modern facility.&uot;
Hanson said the runway is the airport’s chief liability because it’s too old and too short. The navigational charts used by corporate and private pilots with larger planes often don’t show Albert Lea as a suitable stop because the standard runway length is 5,000 feet.
&uot;We’re 500 feet short of that mark. It’s enough to disqualify us in the eyes of insurance companies because we don’t meet the present-day standard,&uot; Hanson said.
A 5,000-foot runway would even be large enough to land big commercial jets like 737s.
But simply extending the existing runway won’t be good enough, Hanson said. After five overlays in 30 years, the runway’s surface has deteriorated to a point beyond reconditioning.
The improvement plan lists a brand new runway with new lights as a top priority, and money from the Federal Aviation Administration could cover as much as 90 percent of the $3.5 million cost, Hanson said.
&uot;The FAA has been setting money aside for a long time, maybe 20 years or longer, for the purpose of helping smaller airports meet the new standards,&uot; Hanson said. &uot;It’s a great opportunity to get some expensive improvements done without costing the city too much.&uot;
The new runway would be about 650 feet longer and slightly realigned to meet all federal and state zoning regulations. The existing runway, built in 1955, would be reconditioned as a taxi area, Hanson said.
Though the runway is the most ambitious piece of the improvement plan, Hanson said a new building to house grounds equipment is also important. The storage building, estimated to cost about $120,000, would be large enough to hold snow removal equipment, freeing up three hangars for planes.
&uot;It makes a lot of sense for us,&uot; Hanson said. &uot;The city could start getting some revenue from those three hangars, and we could keep all of our equipment in one place.&uot;
The improvement plan also includes a new electrical building, which Hanson said would free up space in the terminal for offices. Upgraded restrooms, conference rooms and classrooms would also be useful additions to the terminal, he said.
Hanson said he will work with a consulting firm to secure funding for the projects and outline a construction schedule. All the upgrades could be finished in three or four years.
Seven years is the absolute time limit for completing a new runway, Hanson said, because the existing runway won’t last any longer.
&uot;I would say that old thing has less than seven years of life left,&uot; he said.