SPRINGDALE — The city airport terminal will be renovated for the first time since it was built, if the Airport Commission is successful with a grant application.
City staff will have an application ready for the July commission meeting, said Wyman Morgan, city director of administration and financial affairs. The application will be submitted in time for the September meeting of the Arkansas Aeronautical Board, he said.
The grant would pay for 80 percent of the renovation, if approved. The limit for grants is $300,000, which would require $75,000 in matching money.
At A Glance
Springdale’s Airport
Springdale Municipal Airport is a city-owned general aviation airport on 221 acres near the city’s center. Its runway is 5,302 feet long. Airspace is controlled by a part-time air traffic control tower.
Source: springdalear.gov
The top priorities would be to renovate bathrooms in the building, extend the second-floor balcony and extend the floor on the building’s second level to close in the two-story open space that begins on the ground floor, Morgan said.
The terminal was built in 1986, said James Smith, airport manager. It hasn’t had a major renovation since it opened, said Neil Johnson, commissioner.
“We’ve replaced some tile and carpet and painted the outside,” Smith said. “That’s it.”
The additional second-story floor space and the balcony could be used to expand the terminal restaurant, said Dave Powell, an owner of Summit Aviation, the fixed-base operator for the airport. An airport owner allows the operator, which is a commercial business, to provide support services for aviation, including fuel and repairs.
The state board eliminated the grants for the renovations, according to an April letter from the Department of Aeronautics. At its June meeting, board members changed their minds, Morgan said.
The city commission asked the board to bring the grants back, Morgan said.
“We asked them to cut back on payments to the smaller airports and keep the grant program,” Morgan said. “Instead they cut money to the larger airports but we got what we wanted.”
Lowering the upper limit on grants reduced the money going to the million-dollar projects at the state’s biggest airports, Morgan said.
The commission decided who would be running the airport restaurant by approving a contract with Bill Adams for a business to be called Flaps Down American Grill. The one-year lease would cost the restaurant $350 a month. The previous restaurant owners also paid $350 a month, Morgan said.
“I’m all for keeping the rent low to help the new restaurant get going,” said Robbie Wilkinson, commissioner. “We need to look at this again if we give them more space and again about every three years. They are getting a good price.”