Cape Airport communications tower to be relocated for terminal project

A remote communications outlet tower (RCO) will be relocated because it is in the current area where the new terminal is to be built at Cape Girardeau Regional Airport.

Cape Girardeau City Council members voted unanimously at their meeting Tuesday, Feb. 21, to approve the agreement with the Federal Aviation Administration to relocate the tower.

The tower transmits information from the air traffic control tower at the airport to the FAA Air Traffic Control Center in Memphis, Tennessee.

The relocation will cost an estimated $79,273 and will be funded, initially, through a portion of the city's Coronavirus, Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act funds and must be prepaid before the start of the project.

The FAA will then reimburse the city of any unused funds. In a meeting with the Airport Advisory Board last week, airport manager Katrina Amos said the estimates for reimbursable projects "normally errs on the high side."

The move will be handled by KCI Construction Inc. — the contractor for the $12 million new terminal. While the RCO is out of commission, an existing backup tower — located on top of the current terminal — will be used until the relocation is complete.

Also at the council meeting, the design-build contract for the new terminal was formally approved by council members. Next, the project will undergo a design charette, a process of going through specific details of the project to finalize plans and costs.

The project is expected to break ground in the next couple of months.