Airport manager Tim Dalton says the ongoing improvements and upgrades to the airport’s facilities will ultimately put it ahead of regional competitors.

Staff at the airport moved into the new $1.38 million, 6,300-square-foot operations center in mid December.

Since then, work on the building has continued, with the finishing touches on the adjacent state-of-the-art corporate aircraft hangar expected to be finished by the end of this week. An extension to the airport’s runway to 5,001 feet is also set to begin yet this year

Dalton said he was happy with the new center.

‘We were working on it all summer long,” Dalton said. “It went rather slowly, but it’s been worth the wait. We have a product that we’re proud of and believe will serve the needs of our current and future customers.”

The adjacent hangar will be offered to airport patrons to protect their jets during bad weather. It has capacity for one large jet, or two smaller planes, with overnight prices ranging from $50, to $125-150 depending on the size of the aircraft.

A heat source is installed underneath the floor of the hangar, which Dalton said is a more efficient way to heat the building.

As well as three offices and a waiting and reception area for visitors, the new operations center offers two large conference rooms, a flight training room and a rest area for pilots on a layover at the airport.

Dalton said that pilots will now be able to take a shower, relax in a lounge complimented with a flat screen TV, or take a nap in the specially fitted bedroom.

He added that the conference facilities were also a significant addition to the airport’s new capacity to meet the needs of corporate clients.

“Before we had three offices in a full open space, and we could never do more than one thing at once,” Dalton said. “The conference room will be open to all local businesses and industries. When Tyson has someone fly here they won’t have to go to their facility to meet, but can use ours instead.”

The operations center is the second part of the airport’s three-stage upgrade.

Along with the operations center, a new T-6 hangar was also completed at the airport last February.

Dalton, however, believes that the real selling point of the airport will be the proposed new 5,001-foot runway that will accommodate larger aircraft, opening the area up to new business clients and potential investors.

Currently the 4,480-foot runway is long enough to receive Tyson’s Falcon 10 and Falcon 50 aircraft, but during bad weather, these jets are often redirected to Lafayette.

“A longer runway will easily be able to accommodate the larger aircraft,” Dalton said. “For the most part, the weather needs to be optimal but for the jet aircraft that land here, we would like to have a little bit better safety margin. The new runway would give them that.”

The runway expansion will be funded by the Federal Aviation Administration.

Last year the airport received $111,240 from the U.S. Department of Transportation to reimburse costs of land acquisition and design of the project.

The cost of the construction was estimated two years ago at $1.7 million, but Dalton admits that number might change when the bids come in.

He added, however, that with a new federal administration touting construction projects as a way to stimulate the economy, he is hopeful that the project will move ahead sooner than expected.

In the Obama administration’s proposed economic stimulus package, $3 billion will go to the FAA for aviation projects. Dalton hopes that as a shovel-ready project, the runway extension might be eligible for funding.

“We will be pushing hard for the funds for the new runway,” Dalton said. “Hopefully we will see construction this year, but the sooner we can get it done the better we are.”

Skip Kuker, president of the Logansport Cass County Economic Development Foundation, used to work as a pilot who transported freight around the country.

He said that visiting the airport was what first brought him to Logansport, and he thinks extending the runway will only benefit businesses already operating in the area, and those considering a a move to Cass County

“A 5,000-foot runway will open up our area to a whole new class of aircraft,” Kuker said. “By law, aircraft are only to take off and land at a certain weight and with so much fuel on board. Often they have to stop to refuel to keep this weight. A 5,000-foot runway is the standard that many of these aircraft look for.”

At present, the airport receives roughly 8,500 planes each year. Dalton said that fuel sales were increasingly becoming an integral part of the airport’s business.

“Last June we took over fuel sales at the airport, and during July and August we sold more fuel in those two months than in the previous 12,” Dalton said. “We had people from all over the country coming here and had phenomenal traffic in July and August. The goal is to spread the summer out for longer.”

Dalton said the airport’s location close to the Logan/Cass Industrial Park should be a selling point in the city’s efforts to attract further business investments.

Kuker agrees.

“Having that amenity shows progress,” Kuker said. “If you don’t have it, and they need it, you are not going to get them.”

Kevin Smith can be contacted at (574) 732-5148 or via e-mail at kevin.smith@pharostribune.com