Date set for groundbreaking ceremony for new Cape Girardeau Airport terminal

Cape Girardeau Regional Airport manager Katrina Amos announced that the groundbreaking ceremony for the new terminal at the Airport Advisory Board will be next month.

The ceremony for the eventual 20,000-square-foot terminal will take place at 10 a.m. Tuesday, April 11, at the airport.

City Council members voted unanimously to approve KCI Construction Co. to helm the project in December 2022. The contractor received the recommendation from those directly involved in the selection process -- city officials, consultants and advisory board members -- in large part because of a far superior interview compared to the other bidders, Amos said at the council meeting.

The airport manager said Tuesday that KCI has met the high expectations the contracting firm set for itself during the bid process.

"Everything we hoped for has happened," Amos said of KCI's work on the project.

Employees from KCI were at the airport Tuesday doing some survey work for the new terminal.

The structure has been planned for years and will cost around $12 million to complete. The majority of the funding for the project -- $10 million -- comes from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Securities Act funds with the remaining portion coming from the city's Capital Improvement Sales Tax.

Previously, around $8 million from the CARES Act was devoted to the project. Amos said more federal funding will be allocated to the new terminal project, freeing up CIS tax funds that will be devoted toward building new T-hangars at the airport.

CARES Act funds must be utilized by June 2024, which is the deadline for the terminal's completion.

Amos said the switch will give the airport more flexibility with hangar construction and ensure the federal dollars are used before they expire.

The T-hangars project was put out for bid at the end of February. Initially, plans were to build 26 new hangars utilizing $2.9 million, but rising construction costs will limit the number that can be built this cycle.

Amos previously estimated each hangar would cost around $200,000 to construct. There are currently 20 T-hangars at the airport.

Around 70 aircraft are currently housed at the airport with 11 on the waitlist.