City breaks ground on McAlester Regional Airport terminal project
Oklahoma State Director of Aeronautics Grayson Ardies, McAlester Mayor John Browne, and Choctaw Nation Tribal Councilor Robert Karr spoke about the importance McAlester Regional Airport’s significance to the community, region, and state during a groundbreaking ceremony for a $2.7 million new terminal project.
“I see McAlester as the heart of Southeast Oklahoma, the real upcoming city or metropolis of Southeast Oklahoma, and what better way to establish yourselves in the aviation and aerospace industry than by building this beautiful terminal building,” Ardies said. “And you always need that front door to your community and that’s what this new terminal building is going to provide.”
“This is a tremendously expensive project but we were fortunate that we got a lot of help from a lot of people so the city is putting in about 25% of the cost,” Browne said. “So thank you to everybody who has helped get this to where it is and to get it through the rest of the way.”
“This is such a great opportunity for Choctaw Nation to work together with the city,” Karr said. “One of our slogans we use is ‘together will work’ and this is a great example of that.”
McAlester Regional Airport operates under a regional business designation with 31 based aircraft. The city’s airport spans 257 acres and totals 8,000 operations, or take-offs and landings, per year.
An Oklahoma Aeronautics Commission study estimated McAlester Regional Airport’s economic impact at $11 million per year in its most recent study. The airport helps refuel MediFlight aircraft year-round, and hosts aircraft for prospective businesses, returning business leaders, high-ranking government officials, and more.
Plans call for the new terminal to be constructed in the same spot as the original, but it will span nearly twice the size as the old one at 4,500 square feet.
GHN Architects & Engineers drew plans for the new facility that include a conference room, offices, a waiting room, and more. Plans also call for a classroom to house the city’s aeronautics instructional partnership with McAlester Public Schools that teaches students how to build and fly an airplane.
Construction is expected to be complete within a year after receiving notice to proceed, with the goal of finishing the project by October 2024.
Contractors recently demolished the airport’s old terminal building, which was built in 1951 and was in disrepair. Upgrades at the airport throughout the years focused on safety and the runway condition, including a major rehabilitation of the runway and taxiways in 2018 that cost $4.6 million, of which $4.1 million came from federal funding.
However, the old terminal building saw few updates over nearly a century, with the latest coming 2004, and led to the city’s decision to support the first major construction project across any department in more than a decade.
City council members approved signing grant applications for $439,999 from federal BIL grant funds, $479,308 in federal AIP grant funds, and $869,880 in OAC state funds for the project. The city’s $972,028.47 sponsor share was reduced with a $250,000 donation from Choctaw Nation to help reach the projected cost of $2,761,215.47.
Airport staff officially moved next door in July after completing a three-month renovation project at the former flight service station, where they updated carpeting, light fixtures, and trim, painted the interior, and made some upgrades on the facility’s exterior.
City Manager Dave Andren, City of McAlester Economic Development Director Stephanie Mervine, and several state, city, tribal and local officials attended the event.