Alyssa Tolman
Wyoming Tribune-Eagle, Cheyenne
(TNS)

CHEYENNE — An effort to place Cheyenne’s historic airport terminal on the National Register of Historic Places has been stalled as the Cheyenne Regional Airport Board weighs the building’s future and the estimated millions of dollars needed to rehabilitate it.

The 1960s-era terminal, which closed to the public in 2018 and is owned by the airport board, has been the subject of a three-year effort led by Arts Cheyenne and other community partners to explore turning the building into an arts and aviation center.

However, that project has recently fallen through the cracks, and officials are unsure what will happen next.

At an airport board meeting Thursday, Director of Aviation Doug Bullock said he had met with groups involved in the preservation effort and agreed the grant-funded nomination process should not move forward.

“Effectively, it’s been shelved,” Bullock said. “It’s kind of agreed that we’re not going to proceed with that historical designation.”

Desirée Brothe, executive director of Arts Cheyenne, presented the board with a report detailing the work that has been completed since 2022, which is when the organization received a $20,000 National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) grant to help fund the arts and aviation center concept.

The proposed center was intended to be a mixed-use facility incorporating arts and aviation-related programming, including a potential aviation museum.

Over three years, the project received approximately $233,168 in grants, including $50,000 total from the NEA; $12,168 through a Certified Local Government grant for the National Register nomination; $75,000 for roof repairs; and $50,000 for canopy repairs. A $46,000 Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality grant also funded environmental assessments for asbestos, lead and mold.

Brothe said there is about $47,000 from the NEA grant that is unspent.

The group also pursued larger funding opportunities, including a $1 million Environmental Protection Agency Brownfields grant, and a $3 million sixth-penny sales tax request that ultimately did not make it on the 2026 ballot.

Brothe said due to the ongoing funding issues and an unclear path forward, Arts Cheyenne has decided to step away from the project.

“I think we’ve explored it as far as we can,” Brothe said. “It doesn’t make sense for us to continue to pursue this particular project when we look at an arts and culture facility. … I think this particular project has run its course, from our standpoint.”

Brothe said she thinks an aviation museum could still be built in the terminal, but that it would be difficult to get the building from its current condition to a functioning facility.

“I wouldn’t say it’s out the window, but it’s up to (the airport board) now,” she said.

Megan Stanfill, executive director of the Alliance for Historic Wyoming, told the board that there are many misconceptions about the National Register process, and that the designation itself would not impose restrictions on the airport.

Stanfill said the designation would primarily provide documentation and could make the property eligible for preservation grants and historic tax credits.

“Getting listed on the National Register of Historic Places does not impose any federal obligations, restrictions, anything like that on the property,” Stanfill said. “States can enact legislation to protect historic buildings that are on the register. However, Wyoming doesn’t have any legislation like that.”

Stanfill said local communities can enact ordinances that cover historic properties, but reiterated that simply being listed on the National Register does not automatically put those restrictions on the board. She said that has to be done through a resolution passed by the local city council or county commission.

Stephanie Lowe, president of Historic Cheyenne Inc., added that the National Register designation would not prevent the airport board from renovating or redesigning the building.

However, it would pose a roadblock for potential future demolition.

“Should the building be listed, and then, for whatever reason in the future, you guys want to demolish the building, it does have to be approved by the city’s Historic Preservation Board for that to move forward,” Lowe told board members. “That is the only thing. You could paint it pink and nobody could tell you otherwise.”

The nomination effort, though, has encountered another obstacle.

The consultant working on the application has been unable to obtain access to the terminal to take photographs and complete other documentation necessary.

The Certified Local Government grant must be closed out by the end of September, said Planning and Development Director Charles Bloom, and access to the building is crucial to getting it done.

Airport officials indicated during the meeting that access could be arranged so the consultant can complete the required work, but did not discuss the issue further.

Even if the nomination is completed, the terminal would not automatically become listed on the National Register, Bloom said. The completed nomination would still have to go through the appropriate review process.

Board member Jeff Storey said the historic terminal could require roughly $10 million to $13 million in renovation costs, and emphasized that the airport does not currently have the money necessary to make the building functional.

“People have come with very good ideas,” Storey said, “but no one’s coming with money.”

Storey said the airport has already invested hundreds of thousands of dollars in maintaining the terminal, including extensive roof work, and that those expenditures take money away from other aviation projects.

Despite the uncertainty, representatives of the historic preservation community and airport board members said they want to work with the involved groups to find a path forward.

“We’re not saying this terminal is done,” board member Kevin Paintner said. “We’re saying we need to have serious options on the table to move forward with it. … We love the terminal, but it has to be financially viable to maintain it.”

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