By BRENT MARTIN
St. Joseph Post
More federal money is coming to St. Joseph in the city’s efforts to transform Rosecrans Memorial Airport.
Congressman Sam Graves, the ranking Republican on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, has announced securing another $1.8 million toward building a new Air Traffic Control Tower.
“I want to see a new tower put out here,” Graves tells KFEQ/St. Joseph Post during a stop at the 139th Airlift Group base. “We’ve got to keep Rosecrans in top condition and in great shape and modernized so that we are able to keep the Guard base here and the Advanced Airlift Tactics Training Center here, too. It’s super important.”
Graves had earlier announced $1.98 million to finance replacement of the aging terminal building at Rosecrans. Both the terminal and the tower are housed in one building, constructed in 1952. The roof leaks. Maintenance is difficult at best. The tower no longer complies with modern Federal Aviation Administration regulations.
St. Joseph Public Works Director Abe Forney says a total of $8 million dollars has been allocated toward the new aviation complex project.
“It gets us close. It gets us design,” Forney tells KFEQ/St. Joseph Post. “It gets us some utilities moved, but we’re still not there with total funding to get the tower completely built.”
In addition to a new terminal and tower, city officials hope to construct a new maintenance building, primarily to house snow removal equipment.
The United States House has approved a $5 million allocation for Rosecrans toward the new aviation center. The Senate has yet to act on the appropriation.
Forney says Rosecrans badly needs updating to serve private aircraft, corporate jets, as well as the Air National Guard’s 139th Airlift Group.
“Getting a new facility in there with the height requirement the FAA requires, getting security lined out that we currently don’t have in our existing building for the air traffic controllers is crucial,” according to Forney.
St. Joseph has received approximately $5 million from the state to go toward the project. The city will have to provide matching funds. Buchanan County likely will contribute, as well.
In addition, Rosecrans is scheduled to overhaul its main runway, a $40 million dollar project. Forney says concrete on the runway is breaking off, scattering debris.
“So, our guys are out there constantly filling buckets full of loose concrete and then patching it,” Forney says. “We can’t do business like that. We’ve got to get that runway taken care of.”
Forney says, once completed, Rosecrans will be transformed.
“Hopefully, we’ll have a new runway, a new terminal building, and a new tower; we’ll have a whole new airport.”