Business View Magazine | September 2019

107 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE SEPTEMBER 2019 Angela Padalecki. “But it was built in 1952, and is approaching the end of its useful life. So, we’re replacing it and building a new one. We broke ground in August 2018. That project remains on schedule and we expect it to take up to ten years.” Padalecki reports that an initial grant of $4.9 million from the FAA’s Airport Improvement Program is paving the way for this major reconstruction project. “Last year, we relocated the remote transmitter receiver, or RTR - that’s the ground/air radio,” she explains. “The former one was in the way where the new runway goes. We also relocated a city road, nearby, that needed to be moved in order to enable the buildout of the runway. This year, we’ll be building out our fence line for our new perimeter. We received a land patent for the transfer of land from the Bureau of Land Management (BLS) to the Airport of about 188 acres. Our Airport perimeter line is now officially established, so we’ll be fencing that in. Most of these projects, I would classify as enabling projects to really enable the buildout of that new runway; that’s what the $4.9 million grant will be used for, primarily, as well as some retaining ponds and some other work.” “We’re estimating that the total cost will be about $150 million,” Padalecki adds. “We anticipate this project will be funded 90 percent by the FAA; we provided a ten percent match, so we are completing construction as quickly as we receive grant money. We do have a long-term plan, right now; we think it will take about eight years to complete the runway, but we will move as quickly as they give us funding, and we have our match ready.” Another recent project at the Airport was the renovation of its passenger terminal. “We’ve spent about $5.5 million upgrading the mechanical systems, HVAC, replacing the roof - those types of deferred maintenance items,” Padalecki says. “We also spent some money on code compliance to improve the safety elements in the terminal, and on customer experience upgrades, including paint, refinishing stair rails, installing some new art, installing new light fixtures, etc.. That work is wrapping up. We anticipate replacing the flooring GRAND JUNCT ION REGIONAL A I RPORT pictured Executive Director, Angela Padalecki