Jul. 24—Vance Air Force Base and Enid Woodring Regional Airport have been slated to undergo major projects this upcoming winter, after receiving funding needed to approve the projects.
In January 2022, Vance Development Authority recommended several necessary projects at Woodring due to high priority and supporting the mission at Vance, according to VDA.
At a VDA meeting earlier this week, more details about the projects were made available.
The city of Enid, in conjunction with the Oklahoma Military Strategic Planning Committee, has begun a new effort to spend approximately $5 million at Woodring to repair the south ramp, build an additional joint-use hangar and possibly put in a Tower Display Workstation (radar feed repeater) in the Woodring tower.
Additional funding currently is being pursued through the Oklahoma Department of Commerce, Federal Aviation Administration and the Oklahoma Strategic Military Planning Commission, according to VDA.
As grants and other funding come in, these projects were able to be scheduled after months of planning. The south ramp expansion and the joint use hangar currently are in the design phase of planning, which should be done in September, said Mike Cooper, city of Enid military liaison.
The time frame for beginning construction for the two projects is in November. Vance will begin construction on one of their runways in January, with an estimated 18-month time frame to complete, Cooper said.
Vance's runway construction is being funded by the Department of Defense with a price tag of $83 million, according to Vance.
The Woodring Tower Display Workspace (TDA) is having issues obtaining grants, as the tower is owned by the Federal Aviation Administration. Approval is needed from FAA to begin such a project, but it has been a slow process, Cooper said.
Woodring's TDA is one of the few in the nation owned by FAA, Woodring Manager Kesston Cook said. There currently is not an actual radar in the tower at Woodring, and pilots must rely on manual reporting from others in the work tower.
"The main goal is to enhance the safety of the operations out there," Cook said.
Jeanne is business reporter for the Enid News & Eagle.
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