PRESQUE ISLE, Maine — Officials at the Northern Maine Regional Airport say nearly $3 million in federal grant money will go toward badly needed ramp and hangar improvements at the central Aroostook County facility.
“We have been talking about this apron rehabilitation project for several years,” airport director Scott Wardwell said Monday morning. “We hope to get started in the next week.”
The $2,982,515 Federal Aviation Administration grant will fund the removal of an old hanger and its replacement with an improved facility at a more convenient location in the airport’s general aviation area.
In addition, the project calls for improvements and needed repairs to the general aviation area’s ramp or apron, where the planes park after landing, Wardwell said.
“That pavement is about 30 years old,” he said. “We’ve been sealing it and repairing it for years, but it’s time.”
The northern Maine facility sees about 10,000 passenger boardings per year, Wardwell said, and caters to commercial and private aircrafts.
“This significant investment is wonderful news for Northern Maine Regional Airport at Presque Isle,” U.S. Rep. Mike Michaud said last week. “The funds will allow for the airport to make needed infrastructure upgrades that will ensure it can continue to effectively and efficiently serve all of our residents and visitors who rely on the airport as a point of access, day in and day out.”
U.S. Sen. Susan Collins and Sen. Angus King agreed.
“Given Maine’s large geographic area and dispersed population, air travel is a critical connecting force that helps to link communities across the state,” the senators said in a joint statement last week. “Northern Maine Regional and other small airports are gateways for our businesses, and play a fundamental role in the continued economic development of our most rural regions.”
Wardwell said the project should wrap up during the winter.
