The Gainesville Regional Airport received a multimillion-dollar grant to continue its expansion and upgrade safety features.
The Federal Aviation Administration awarded the airport $4,253,212 to fund the new Aircraft Rescue and Firefighting Station and expand the airport’s terminal. Construction will begin Oct. 1 and will last three to five years.
The money came from the FAA’s Airport Improvement Program, a grant from Congress that airports apply for, said Arlene Salac, the public affairs manager for the New England regional FAA.
The grant will cover 90 percent of renovation costs, she said. The city of Gainesville will have to cover the remaining 10 percent.
The majority of the money is funding the new fire and rescue station, Allan Penksa, the airport’s CEO, said. The current station was built in 1979 and needs extensive maintenance. It is more cost-efficient to build a new station.
The new building, which will replace the old one near Waldo Road, will be closer to the air
traffic control tower. Ideally, the airport’s fire station, which runs 20 hours per day, should be as close to the airport as possible, Penksa said.
About $890,000 of the grant will fund renovations on the terminal. The roof will be replaced, and another Transportation Security Administration line will be added, but the construction won’t affect the airport’s daily operations, he said.
The size and capabilities of the terminal will expand for future growth, although there’s no guarantee new airlines or cities will be added, Penksa said.
“It’s not a ‘build-it-and-they-will-come’ scenario,” he said. “This is part of the program of continuing improvement.”
The fire station isn’t falling down, but it does have some problems, said Mark Boals, a firefighter at the airport. The updated building will be close enough to see the airfield in case of an emergency. If something were to happen, the firefighters would have a shorter response time.
“We are excited,” Boals, a Gainesville resident, said, “but we know it’s going to take time.”
