May 22—MORGANTOWN — The “Move the Mountain” project will leave the North Central West Virginia Airport in less debt than initially projected, the Benedum Airport Authority learned at its monthly meeting Tuesday.
Now nearing completion, the airport terminal construction project will cost nearly $54 million. Once completed, however, the airport will have less than $5 million in debt. This will be thanks to a $10 million grant that Governor Jim Justice awarded when the project started. At the same time, the airport was able to raise $4.7 million locally from the city and the province to implement the project.
Bridgeport Mayor Andy Lang said governments work on a project-completed basis when handing out grants.
“As we complete the project, the grants and earmarks will come into effect,” Lang said. “They will pay us back. So even though it’s a $10 million loan, at the end of the project, less than $5 million will have been amortized.”
The loan Lang is referring to is an additional $10 million loan available to the airport in addition to the $10 million grant and will act as a bridge loan. The money will be used to complete the final parts of the construction project. The Airport Authority has approved applying for the loan from Huntington National Bank.
Airport Deputy Director Shawn Long also provided an update on the new terminal. The airport still expects the building to be ready in the fall. Escalators have been delivered to site and Long expects them and the elevators to be installed within about a month.
“We’re really doing some finishing work here,” he said.
Bids for furniture, the platform project and the taxiway project are out.
Director and lead instructor of Fairmont State University’s aviation program, Joel Kirk, also raised what could be a money-making opportunity for the airport. A training squadron from Pensacola, Florida flying T-6 Texan IIs is moving to Charleston to conduct their training. However, Kirk said that with all the hustle and bustle in Charleston, the squadron may be looking for another place to go.
“That’s a cash cow if you can get involved with anything,” Kirk said. “I’m going to call and find out why they’re pulling out, but there are about eight training squadrons and if they’re looking for places to spend their summer, running 20 planes on jet fuel all summer is pretty lucrative.”
Reach Esteban at efernandez@timeswv.com
