Lynchburg Regional Airport to get $600k for new tower
Nearly $600,000 from the federal government has been released for construction of the Lynchburg Regional Airport’s new control tower, slated to be finished by the end of the year.
Built in 1963, the existing tower is in need of replacement. According to Lynchburg Regional Airport Director Mark Courtney, the tower has outlived its usefulness.
“With the combination of airline service, flight training and business jets coming in and out, the modern tower is essential to our mission and safety,” Courtney said. “It’s really critical that we maintain our air traffic control service.”
As part of the Federal Aviation Administration’s air traffic control tower program, the money is the second part of appropriated federal dollars for the construction of the new tower. The FAA entitlement funds support movement of federally mandated communication systems from the old structure to the new one.
“The existing air traffic control tower at Lynchburg Regional Airport is more than 50 years old and has been slated to be replaced for many years,” Democratic Sens. Mark Warner and Timothy Kaine said in a joint news release Tuesday. “We are pleased that the City of Lynchburg will receive federal funds to help support construction of the new tower. These investments are critical to upgrading our nation’s air traffic control system, which is in dire need of modernization.”
The cab of the old tower will be sold at public auction, with Liberty University’s School of Aeronautics and at least one other party interested in purchasing it as of now. Construction on the new structure began in April, directly next to the location of the current tower. The entire project is expected to cost $4.69 million, which combines all of the preparation as well as construction costs.
“This has been a long time coming,” Courtney said. “It’s been about four years from doing an FAA site study, engineering and design, selecting the bid and finding a total cost be (that would be) something that we could have sufficient funding for.”
In addition to the $600,000 released from the FAA entitlement funds both this year and last, the state is contributing another $1.8 million to the project. The airport is paying for the last section with about $1 million from airport traveler revenue, Courtney said.
The new tower also will service Liberty University, whose aeronautics students fly out of the airport.
“The importance to us at the Liberty University School of Aeronautics and Freedom Aviation is that it will enhance safety and help prepare our students to operate within an advanced air traffic control system,” said Dave Young, dean of Liberty’s aeronautics school.
The FAA’s Contract Tower Program, which pays for the upkeep and operation of aircraft control towers, was on the chopping block for airports with fewer than 150,000 takeoffs during the 2011 government sequestration, but the program was never cut.
“Congressman Goodlatte was a real leader in garnering bipartisan support for the FAA entitlement grants the airport could stay open,” Courtney said.
In 2015, there were 101,870 takeoffs and landings at Lynchburg Regional Airport, according to the release.
