May 27—Plans are moving forward for a new terminal building at McAlester Regional Airport, which will be nearly twice the size of the present one.
Designs show the new airport terminal building set for construction at McAlester Regional Airport will cover 4,500 square feet — compared to 2,500 square feet for the existing building.
It's a $2.7 million project, made possible through federal and state grants, in a three-way partnership with the city of McAlester.
"We are very excited to get a new terminal building at a third of the cost," said McAlester City Manager David Andren.
"It will be more welcoming and much more visual," Andren said.
Through the city's leveraging of state and federal grants, the total cost of $2,761,215.47 will be split three ways.
For now, the project's finances break down like this:
—Federal Aviation Administration's share — $919,307.
—Oklahoma Aeronautics Commission share — $869,880.
—Sponsor share (city of McAlester) — $972,028.47, to reach the total project cost of $2,761,215.47.
The city's $972,028.47 share may be reduced if efforts to bring another partner on-board are successful.
Plans call for the current airport terminal building to be demolished, so the new building can be constructed ion the site where the present one stands.
Once construction of the new facility nears, airport operations with move to another building until the new one is complete.
"We will be moving into the building next door," said McAlester Regional Airport Manage Chase Tindle.
Tindle is enthused about the project.
"It's going to turn a new page for the airport," Tindle said.
He said it will mean a lot for McAlester — and that's only the beginning.
"My plan is to make this the premier airport for Southeast Oklahoma," Tindle said.
A lot of people don't stop to think of the airport as the first thing people see when they travel to McAlester, Tindle noted.
But the airport's the first thing that people fly into the city see, he said. He's anticipating the impact the new terminal building will have on those arriving at the airport as they disembark from their aircraft.
"This will be an impressive first impression," Tindle said.
Some additions will be included in the new airport terminal building.
"The new terminal will have conference room space and some classrooms for aerospace instruction," Tindle said.
He's hopeful construction will start by the third quarter of 2023, which will place in it the July-August-September time period.
Approximately one year has been set aside for construction of the new airport terminal building, once the construction work begins.
City councilors took several steps during their regular meeting this week to push the project a little farther down the line.
They passed actions authorizing Mayor John Browne to sign the necessary grant applications and passed a resolution to accept grant funds from the FAA and OAC.
City councilors also authorized the mayor to sign a Task Order Agreement with HW Lochner,, Inc in an amount to exceed $216,200 for construction and inspection services.
They also accepted a bid amount totaling $2,292,000, from Jim Cooley Construction and authorized the mayor to sign the notice of award and contract for construction of the new terminal building at McAlester Regional Airport.
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