From left, Nick Young, the Airports Division Manager for the Oklahoma Department of Aerospace and Aeronautics, welcomed Mike Richardson, Airport Director for the City of Bartlesville, and Chris Batchelder, Vice President of Business Development for the Bartlesville Development Authority, to the meeting on July 9. The Oklahoma Aerospace and Aeronautics Commission granted $2.38 million towards a project for the construction of a 120-foot by 130-foot box hangar at the airport. Kevin Potter of Bartlesville, fifth from right, serves as vice-chair of the Commission. Photo courtesy of Oklahoma Department of Aerospace and Aeronautics
The Bartlesville Municipal Airport will receive $2.38 million in grants from the Oklahoma Aerospace and Aeronautics Commission to help fund the construction of a nearly 20,000-square-foot hangar.
“We appreciate the continued support of the Commission in further developing our airport, and a special thanks to Executive Director Grayson Ardies, ODAA staff and Vice-Chair Kevin Potter of Bartlesville,” said Airport Director Mike Richardson. “The new hangar and taxilane will allow us to recruit an aircraft maintenance repair overhaul company to Bartlesville, and gives us the opportunity to develop the east side of the airport for the next 10 to 15 years.”
The Commission approved two grants for the $5.4 million project during its July 9 meeting.
More than $2 million was granted for the construction of the 120-foot by 130-foot box hangar. Based on bids, the total project cost is $5,002,419.43 and will be funded with $2,000,967 of state grant funds. The remaining $3,001,452.43 will be funded by the Bartlesville Development Authority. According to a release from the Oklahoma Department of Aerospace and Aeronautic, the grant was part of the ODAA’s Progressing Rural Economic Prosperity (PREP) funds to help develop local airports.
A separate grant was approved for the hangar apron/taxilane pavement portion of the project. Based on bids, the total project cost is $403,340.23 and will be funded with $383,173 of state grant funds and $20,167.23 with BDA matching funds. According to the ODAA, the grant was part of the recently approved Airport Construction Program (ACP), which provides federal and state funds to support airport development to support the agency’s goal of having business-ready airports statewide.
City staff have been working with the FAA, ODAA and Bartlesville Development Authority for development of the box hangar. The city received bids for the hangar project on July 1 and expects to award the bid at an upcoming city council meeting. Construction on the project could start as early as late summer or early fall.
During the commission’s meeting on July 9, both Richardson and BDA Vice President of Business Development Chris Batchelder were on hand to speak and expressed appreciation to the commission for its continued support of the project and future airport development.
“Since the city resumed operations and ownership of the Bartlesville airport awhile back, there has been a great resurgence and energy … and almost a complete re-envisioning of the area as an MRO hub for northeast Oklahoma,” said Batchelder. “This hangar is going to go a long way toward advancing our airport and Bartlesville as a community. … We’re excited about what this is going to do, not only for our airport, but for Bartlesville as we recruit a new MRO company onto our field and continue to add hangars and commercial operations in the future.”
The commission also provided support for the airport’s $2 million taxilane project, which wrapped up in early May and allows access to the new hangar development. Funds for that taxilane project came from a $1.18 million grant from the ODAA, a $737,000 grant from the Federal Aviation Administration, and $101,306 from the City’s Airport Fund.
The project included construction of a 50-foot wide 650-foot east/west taxiway and a 35-foot wide 650-foot north/south taxiway. The new taxiways extend east of the airport’s main taxiway “A” and are located northeast of the terminal building.