Pending approval of a grant application by the FAA, the city of Foley plans to build a new terminal building at the city’s airport. The building was one of several public projects presented by the planning commission to the city council during a joint work/regular session on Dec. 5.
Recently, the council gave the go-ahead for airport officials to apply for the grant, which would cover 95 percent of the cost – more than $2 million – for the terminal, with the city providing a 5 percent match.
“The proposed building would replace the existing structure that is utilized by the Fixed Base Operator (FBO) and our T-Hangar tenants,” Airport Manager Rachel Keith said. “The new building would consist of a lobby/lounge area, offices, restrooms, a pilot’s lounge and training space. Pilots and their passengers would be able to utilize the space while they are at the airport.”
An agenda item presented to the council from the planning commission said the project would be “construction of a new general aviation terminal building and associated site development. The new building will be located on the west side of the airport. The exact location will be determined during the master plan/airport improvement plan currently being performed.”
The terminal project is one several on the list for the airport. This includes adding an eight-unit, T-hangar building and expanding the taxiway access. These additions will be paid for by another pending FAA grant and the Alabama Department of Transportation for a total of $1.5 million. On this grant, the FAA would pay 90 percent and the city and state 5 percent each.
The completion of the new eight-unit hangar would bring the airport’s total to 48. Keith said she is expecting this project to go out for bid this spring. Officials expect to hear back on the success of the grant application this summer.
A recently completed project at the airport was the demolition and then construction of 24 new hangar units destroyed by Hurricane Sally, as well as a rehab of the airport’s runway and taxiway. The runway and taxiway project received 100 percent funding from the FAA.