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Virgil I. Grissom Municipal Airport Receives Grant To Rehabilitate Runway

Last updated on Wednesday, September 17, 2014

(BEDFORD) - Virgil I. Grissom Municipal Airport Manager Ray Sexton received notice Monday that the airport received a grant from the Federal Aviation Administration to rehabilitate their runway.

According to Jeff Lytton of the Lawrence County Board of Aviation Commissioners, the 4,500- foot runway was last repaired in 1973. Because of the rough runway, the airport and county has lost business.

Rehabilitating the runway with concrete (which has a longer lifespan) will cost about $3.1 million. That price includes not only rehabbing the runway but installing new lights and grooving the surface for safety.

"We have not determined when construction will begin," Sexton says. "We are working on determining that now.

The FAA grant would cover 90 percent of the cost and money from the Indiana Department of Transportation would pay for 5 percent. That leaves a local match of 5 percent -- about $200,000.

The airport already has about $120,000 in a runway improvement fund. The county council approved to pay the remaining $80,000 needed for the project.

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