Southern Indiana airport plans big changes, including new terminal, commercial development

From a new terminal building to new runway lights and a modernized air traffic control tower, Monroe County Airport officials hope to raise and secure more than $20 million in local, state and federal funding to prepare the facility for the next decades.

Meanwhile, local business and education leaders expect an updated airport to bolster economic development and to support the intensifying entanglements between Bloomington and the national security complex at and around Crane .

However, the community’s size and location have their limits: For example, the airport’s director said despite planned upgrades, regular commercial flights out of Bloomington remain unlikely.

The most visually striking aspect of the airport’s plans is a flashy terminal building. A rendering shows a modern design with lots of glass — though Airport Director Carlos Laverty cautions that the designs are merely conceptual and plenty of work, including seeking community input — still has to happen before the project can get off the ground.

Airport officials initially considered going after a state grant for the estimated $15 million project, but Laverty said they abandoned that approach in part because of time constraints. Instead, he said, the airport will launch a capital campaign to raise the funds, though it may take five years to complete the structure.

Airport leaders also want to update the air traffic control tower, which was built in 1973.

“Virtually all of the equipment in the tower is from that time period,” Laverty said.

He hopes to secure $1.6 million in federal funds to bring the furniture, HVAC system and communications equipment “up to current state-of-the-art levels.”

Laverty submitted an application for the funding late last year, but was not awarded the dollars. He said he will try again this year and believes he has a better chance this time around because of letters of support from community stakeholders and elected representatives, some of whom he visited recently in Washington, D.C.

Upgrading the tower might take a while, up to two years, Laverty said because the airport will remain operational while work is ongoing, though he said it may be possible to install a temporary tower that would get towed onto the property.

Laverty said the airport also hopes to raise about $1.5 million in local support to secure additional federal funding to run utility infrastructure to the northeastern and southwest corners of the roughly 1,300-acre airport property.

He said if those areas can be supplied with water, sewer, electric and fiber instructure, the airport could lease about 135 acres for development, which could offer new local jobs and provide the airport with another revenue stream.

If the airport can secure funding, the utility expansion project could be completed within two years, Laverty said.

State: Airport's economic impact estimated at $32.6 million

The Indiana Department of Transportation Office of Aviation calculated recently that the Monroe County Airport has an annual economic impact of $32.6 million and supports 278 jobs.

Clark Greiner, business development director at the Bloomington Economic Development Corp., said the airport already is a “pivotal regional asset, bolstering economic development for existing businesses and prospective employers eying relocation.”

“Positioned strategically near NSA Crane, the airport is a crucial gateway for one of the nation's critical naval bases, underscoring its contribution to defense and national security,” Greiner said via email.

“Moreover, the airports’ surrounding land offers ample opportunity to expand core industries like microelectronics, tech, biosciences, and defense and explore new sectors suited to our community's growth. This aligns well with our mission of driving new economic growth that is a good fit for our community.”

Will it work? Bloomington is building a $13M tech center to diversify its economy.

Although a semiconductor manufacturer recently canceled a planned $150 million investment in Bloomington, the local education sector, including Indiana University and Ivy Tech , and businesses in Bloomington and near Crane are making investments to help secure some of the billions of dollars the federal government is pumping into the microelectronics industry.

Greiner said an expansion of the airport’s infrastructure, such as a new terminal building or build-ready sites, would provide “significant economic benefit to the community.

“Such investments help raise Monroe County's profile as a place to do business,” he said.

IU: Airport crucial to student-athlete wellbeing

The local airport also supports IU, especially the athletic teams and even influences whom the teams play, a university official said.

The airport is a “huge component of student-athlete wellbeing,” said Jeremy Gray, associate athletic director for strategic communications and the director of the Cuban Center .

For example, when the basketball team plays in Iowa at 9 p.m., the game ends around 11 p.m., and the team can land back in Bloomington at 1 a.m. and be back on campus at 1:30 a.m. If the team had to fly through Indianapolis or Louisville, the players would have to take a commercial flight. That, by itself, would prolong travel because of longer check-ins and security checks, but the team also would have to drive back from the bigger airports and arrive on campus much later.

That would make it “extraordinarily difficult” for athletes to be well-rested for the next morning’s classes, Gray said.

Having the airport in Bloomington “allows our student athletes to compete better and study better,” he said.

IU teams also have a competitive advantage: Opposing teams that have to travel commercially from their home base have a much longer trip, which may take a toll on team performance.

The university’s athletic teams use the airport multiple times per week, Gray said, especially the basketball, football and volleyball squads.

Recent storms knocked out Monroe airport's power for 24 hours

Last year, contractors replaced much of the airport lighting and underground cabling for the main runway, requiring installation of new conduits and new electrical systems because incandescent lights were replaced with LED lights.

That work required weeks of runway closures.

“We had big, open trenches all over the runways,” Laverty said.

He is going after another $2.5 million grant through the Federal Aviation Administration that would pay for new LED lights for the secondary runways and other areas, as well as a backup generator.

“We’re pretty optimistic that that’ll be approved,” he said.

During recent storms, the airfield lost power for about 24 hours, which meant it could operate only during daylight. Some of the cabling was installed more than 40 years ago, Laverty said, and most of it was buried directly into the ground, without any conduits, exposing the cables to the elements. Some of the wires have become so frail and brittle that it’s increasingly difficult to maintain them, forcing airport personnel to chase short circuits.

Laverty said the county commissioners and council also recently approved $5 million in COVID-19 stimulus dollars for stormwater drainage improvement.

He said $5 million is “really huge” for the county to make available for the airport, especially on a project that’s “not very flashy.” But the project will address significant erosion, miles of underwater storm drains and other parts of that infrastructure that will preserve a vital piece of land in the county.

“There were parts that literally were washing away,” he said — though nothing near the runways.

A lot of the piping will be replaced with cured-in-place piping, a process that creates a new pipe inside the old one. That should make the pipes last another 40 years, Laverty said.

He also hinted at some new public events the airport might be hosting in the near future, but he didn’t want to give away any details yet.

“It’s a very busy period for us,” he said.

Boris Ladwig can be reached at bladwig@heraldt.com.

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Southern Indiana airport plans big changes, including new terminal, commercial development