Airport manager: Cape airport needs major upgrades, repairs

It�s not what is in the sky, but what is on the ground that worries Cape Girardeau Regional Airport manager Bruce Loy.

Loy said some of the airport�s hangars are in bad shape and need to be torn down and replaced.

The airport also needs a new, larger maintenance shed. The existing facility is too small to store all of the equipment, he said.

On top of that, the airport control tower, built in 1975, has experienced some water leaks that should be addressed, and the terminal needs major rehabilitation, Loy said.

Federal funds could help pay for some of the improvements, but the city still would have to spend $4.1 million on such projects, he said.

A rusted and wood-rotted entrance to the corporate hangars is seen Friday at the Cape Girardeau Regional Airport.KASSI JACKSON

City officials said a number of the airport improvement projects are listed in the city�s capital improvements plan over the next several years, although funding at this stage remains in doubt.

But Ward 4 Councilman Robbie Guard said at a council meeting last week that �it looks like we need to do something with some of the facilities.�

He said, �Really, the two big elephants in the room are the airport and city hall.�

Both facilities need major improvements, he said.

The airport has 26 occupied, city-owned T-hangars and one occupied corporate hangar. In addition, about 20 tenants share space in the large, former Commander aircraft hangar, airport officials said.

The inside of the Commander hangar, where more than 20 planes are being stored because of a lack of functioning hangars, is seen Friday at the Cape Girardeau Regional Airport .KASSI JACKSON

The city took ownership of 18 T-hangars, referred to as the old Air Evac medical service hangars, in 2009.

Eight of the 18 hangars were built in the 1960s. The rest date back to the early 1980s, according to Loy.

Loy said many of the wood beams in the metal-sided �old pole barn� hangars are rotting away. Some of the hangar doors are in disrepair, he and other Cape Girardeau airport officials said.

Only six of the hangars are leased. The other 12 hangars are in such poor condition they cannot be leased, Loy said.

Katrina Amos, deputy airport manager, said, �We have a lot of structural issues.�

Wooden beams of the T-hangars are seen Friday at the Cape Girardeau Regional Airport.KASSI JACKSON

Amos said minor improvements won�t fix it.

�It is like putting lipstick on a pig,� she recently told the council.

Demolition and reconstruction of the hangars would cost an estimated $1.4 million, airport officials said.

Loy said the city would have to foot the cost because the Federal Aviation Administration won�t pay for the hangars.

In addition to addressing those hangars, airport officials have proposed building another 14 new T-hangars and an airport taxiway connection at a cost of $1 million.

Wooden beams of the T-hangars are seen Friday at the Cape Girardeau Regional Airport.KASSI JACKSON

The airport also is saddled with three deteriorating corporate hangars that Loy called �eyesores.�

The hangars were built in 1975. But only one hangar now is operational.

Bi-fold doors on some of the hangars have been irreparably damaged, officials said. Much of the structure�s metal exterior is badly rusted. Inside, walls and insulation have suffered significant water damage.

Demolition and reconstruction of the corporate hangars would cost the city about $600,000, airport officials estimated.

For now, the city is renting out space inside the former Commander building. But it is not ideal as airplanes are parked in front of other planes, requiring some planes to be moved out to get to others when their owners want to use them, Loy said.

Hangar doors of the T-hangar are seen Friday at the Cape Girardeau Regional Airport.KASSI JACKSON

As for a new maintenance facility, it would cost an estimated $2.5 million to construct a 21,000-square-foot facility, he said.

The city, however, could seek federal funding to pay for a majority of the cost, he said.

The existing, 1,800-square-foot maintenance shed, built around 1980, has no direct access to the �air side� of the airport, officials said.

Loy said it is barely large enough to house two pickup trucks.

�Over the years, we have gotten all this additional equipment, and we have no place to put it,� he said.

Snow blades and other equipment are stored outside. Some equipment is stored in the Commander hangar.

The city also needs to fix the leaks in the air traffic control tower, airport officials said. The metal frame is showing deterioration in places.

Loy said the city would need to spend an estimated $50,000 to address the tower problems.

Cape Girardeau�s airport terminal, built in the early 1960s, was remodeled in 1992. But the terminal needs some major upgrades dealing with everything from the heating and cooling system to bathrooms, airport officials said. Roof repairs and flooring also need to be addressed, they said.

In the past five years, the city has spent more than $54,000 on heating and cooling repairs, Loy said.

Rehabbing the terminal would cost an estimated $1 million, Loy said. Federal funding could pay for about 70 percent of the expense with the city picking up the remainder.

mbliss@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3641

Pertinent address:

Cape Girardeau Regional Airport, Cape Girardeau, Mo.