Red Rock On Air

Washington DC – Eight airports in Northeast Minnesota will receive federal grants to make improvements and plan for future expansion.  Friday, Congressman Jim Oberstar announced that the Department of Transportation is awarding $1.2 million in grants from the Federal Aviation Administration’s Airports Improvement Program to airports in the 8th Congressional District of Minnesota.

“Airports are important economic development tools.  They allow Minnesota manufacturers to move their goods to market, and merchants can use them to bring in inventory to their shelves quickly; airports are an important part of our nation’s transportation infrastructure,” said Congressman Jim Oberstar.  “Airport improvements create construction jobs in the short-term and make our economy more competitive in the long-term.”

The FAA grants will fund the following projects:

·         $337,061 to Falls International Airport in International Falls to acquire land for approaches, purchase snow removal equipment and expand the terminal building.
·         $ 38,000 to Ely Municipal Airport to rehabilitate the runway and taxiways.
·         $ 26,183 to Orr Regional Airport to acquire snow removal equipment and remove tress and other obstructions.
·         $361,000 to Chisholm-Hibbing Airport for the rehabilitation of an existing runway and design a new one.
·         $110,636 to Sky Harbor Airport on Duluth’s Park Point to conduct an environmental study for a runway realignment as an alternative to removing old growth trees that are obstructing a runway approach.
·         $ 47,500 to Aitkin Municipal-Steve Kurtz Field to conduct an environmental assessment on a proposed expansion.
·         $147,250 to Little Falls/Morrison County-Lindberg Field to perform an environmental assessment of a proposed crosswind runway.
·         $137,750 to Staples Municipal Airport to conduct a study of a proposed building to construct a snow removal equipment building and to install a perimeter fence.