Last week, Peoria International Airport celebrated a $15 million federal grant to begin construction of a new air traffic control tower.
But why is a new tower needed?
Well, for one thing, the current tower is more than 60 years old and it doesn’t meet several Federal Aviation Administration standards, including height. Director of Airports Gene Olson said the new facility will be 136 feet tall from the ground to the top of the tower, which is about 40 feet taller.
“You have to have a certain look-down angle to the farthest end of the runway, and it doesn't meet that now but the new tower will,” said Olson, noting the new tower will be able to accommodate updated equipment.
“There's other aspects like the current tower doesn't have any backup weather sensors, and there's no place for the instrument panels in the tower to mount those.”
But additionally, the interior of the building that also used to house the old airport terminal and Metropolitan Airport Authority offices is in very poor shape.
“I still remember the first time I went over to that current air traffic control tower,” U.S. Rep. Cheri Bustos said during last week’s news conference. “My chief of staff, after he left the air traffic control tower, he described of it that it was like ‘The Silence of the Lambs.’
“I think it's a very apt description of how much attention this project needed and how that needed to be replaced.”
Gallery: PIA air traffic control tower building
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Peoria International Airport director Gene Olson talks about conditions in the vacated areas of the existing air traffic control tower.
Joe Deacon / WCBU
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Fixtures dangle from the ceiling above a dusty concrete floor in a basement hallway in the air traffic control tower building at Peoria International Airport.
Joe Deacon / WCBU
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A ceiling with missing tiles and a stained floor can be found in a vacated room on a lower level of Peoria International Airport's air traffic control tower building. The airport has been awarded $15 million in federal grant funding for construction of a new air traffic control tower.
Joe Deacon / WCBU
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Some stray cords and an overturned bench can be seen in a power room inside Peoria International Airport's air traffic control tower building.
Joe Deacon / WCBU
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Some loose wires and stray cords can be seen in a power room inside Peoria International Airport's air traffic control tower building.
Joe Deacon / WCBU
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Stacks of computer equipment and empty boxes fill a vacated room in the air traffic control tower at Peoria International Airport.
Joe Deacon / WCBU
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The vacated lower levels of the air traffic control tower building at Peoria International Airport that also used to house the old terminal and Metropolitan Airport Authority offices are in very poor shape.
Joe Deacon / WCBU
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Some partial demolition work has been done in the vacated portions of Peoria International Airport's existing air traffic control tower building, but the structure still needs to support the upper floors. PIA has been awarded $15 million in federal funding toward construction of a new air traffic control tower.
Joe Deacon / WCBU
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The interior of Peoria International Airport's air traffic control tower building that used to house the old terminal and Metropolitan Airport Authority offices is in very poor shape.
Joe Deacon / WCBU
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Tables, counters, bags, and even a vacuum cleaner remain in an abandoned space on one of the the vacated floors inside the air traffic control tower at Peoria International Airport.
Joe Deacon / WCBU
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A discarded wheelchair and office chair, a folding table, and an old television mounted to a pillar are among the items found in a vacated space in the air traffic control tower at Peoria International Airport.
Joe Deacon / WCBU
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A stripped wall has been partially demolished in a vacated room at Peoria International Airport's air traffic control tower.
Joe Deacon / WCBU
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The wallpaper and carpet in the former restaurant and lounge area in the old terminal at Peoria International Airport show signs of wear and tear. The lower floors of PIA's existing air traffic control tower have been vacant since the new terminal building opened.
Joe Deacon / WCBU
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Peoria International Airport director Gene Olson peers into a vacated office space in the existing 63-yeara-old air traffic control tower building. PIA has been awarded $15 million in federal funding toward building a new air traffic control tower.
Joe Deacon / WCBU
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A padlock secures the door to the former Metropolitan Airport Authority offices on a vacated floor of the air traffic control tower at Peoria International Airport.
Joe Deacon / WCBU
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A cardboard box and a roll of paper towels are seen in a utility room on a vacated floor in the air traffic control tower building at Peoria International Airport.
Joe Deacon / WCBU
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Piles of paper clutter a desk in a vacated office in the air traffic control tower building at Peoria International Airport.
Joe Deacon / WCBU
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While Federal Aviation Administration controllers and other staff work on the upper floors of Peoria International Airport's existing tower, the lower floors are now vacant.
Joe Deacon / WCBU
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Some of the lettering has fallen off a wall inside Peoria International Airport's existing air traffic control tower.
Joe Deacon / WCBU
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Empty file cabinets and other pieces of furniture fill a vacated office in the existing air traffic control tower at Peoria International Airport.
Joe Deacon / WCBU
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Empty cabinets and other pieces of furniture fill the vacant offices in the existing air traffic control tower building at Peoria International Airport.
Joe Deacon / WCBU
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Peoria International Airport director Gene Olson looks over a former conference room in the vacated offices in the existing air traffic control tower.
Joe Deacon / WCBU
While FAA controllers and other staff work on the upper floors of the tower, the lower floors are now vacant. Olson said they did some partial demolition work, but the structure needed to remain intact to support the upper levels.
Olson gave WCBU a tour of the building to show the poor conditions. They include standing water in a basement area, darkened hallways, loose electrical cords and other exposed utilities, dilapidated ceilings and walls, an open elevator shaft, and broken furniture.
The former restaurant and lounge area has sections of partially removed carpet and wallpaper and materials spread about the room.
“When the old terminal was built in the late 1950s, it was kind of a common practice to put control towers and terminals in the same building. Over the decades, those have been separated because they really kind of have different needs,” said Olson.
The new tower will be built between the existing facility and the Byerly Aviation building. Olson said they hope to break ground in the spring and construction is expected to take 2-3 years. After that, both towers will operate simultaneously for a year as part of a commissioning process.
Once that’s complete, Olson said the current tower will be demolished.
“I joke with people about selling raffle tickets for who gets to push the plunger,” said Olson. “But unfortunately, I don't think we can do that, because there's too much asbestos in the building to actually blow it up. We'll have to dismantle it.”
