General Wayne A. Downing Peoria International Airport hosted a groundbreaking Monday for a project decades in the making.
Construction on the new air traffic control tower will begin with the base building and the foundations for the tower. The base building will be used for most of the administrative staff.
The airport will use $30 million in federal funding and some local funding to complete the first part of the project. Gene Olson, Director of Airports for the Metropolitan Airport Authority, said it should take about a year to complete.
The project to replace the current tower, which is among the oldest in the country, is something Olson said he’s been working on since he started in 2009. They’ve hit some road blocks along the way, including having to re-do their plan after the Federal Aviation Authority updated their standards.
Olson called this stage the “beginning of the end.”
“We're starting on construction, we still have some finances to arrange to complete the construction, but it's just very fulfilling to me to see this happening,” he said.
Olson said they worked with U.S. Reps. Eric Sorensen and Darin Lahood, U.S. Sens. Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworth, and former U.S. Rep. Cheri Bustos to secure the funding.
Sorensen said the new tower will ensure passengers are safe at the airport.
“We have no room for error when we have the 100 and 82nd Air Wing taking off and landing,” he said. “We have precious cargo with families that are going to and from their vacations. We have veterans that are on their honor flights.”
Lahood said the Peoria Airport International airport is one of the best in the area.
“I don't want to talk about other airports, but I think some of you that have traveled through other airports in Central Illinois know what a gem we have here at the Peoria airport,” he said. “We have a special airport here. We continue to grow.”
Olson said they still need to secure $27 million for the tower portion of the building. They’re working with the Illinois congressional delegation and staff from the U.S. Department of Transportation to apply for federal grants to cover that cost.
Olson said there are two more rounds of funding through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
“We're hopeful that we can, you know, pick up as much funding as possible through the grant program, then we're going to have to come up with whatever else we can't obtain from the grant program,” Olson said.
He said if they are not approved, they’ll pursue local funding options. He said the airport authority also has some reserve funds.
Olson said replacing the current tower is imperative for the airport to function.
“We would be an airport without airline service if we didn't do this,” he said. “The old building is structurally, I mean, it's not going to fall over tomorrow, but it's not in good shape.”
Olson said the old building does not meet American with Disabilities Act standards and has asbestos, causing health issues when there are roof leaks. He said staff have had to abandon the building during repairs before.
Olson said the airport has bounced back from pandemic era lows. The airport received an Airport of the Year designation from the Illinois Department of Transportation this month.
“We've been able to rebuild since then, and to the point where in August and September of this year, we actually set monthly passenger traffic records,” he said. “So we're back, and now we're looking to future growth to build on our success and keep growing.”
