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Three hangars will be built and the fuel tank system will be updated with the help of about $200,000 in state grants just awarded to Fort Dodge Regional Airport.
The airport was awarded a $122,005 Commercial Airport Vertical Infrastructure grant for the hangar project. Any of that money that isn't needed for the hangars will help pay for updates to the building that houses the snow removal equipment, according to Rhonda Chambers, the airport's director of aviation.
An $80,000 Airport Improvement Program grant will pay for the fuel tank system improvements.
The Iowa Transportation Commission approved the grants Monday.
Hangars
Jensen Builders Ltd., of Fort Dodge, plans to break ground next week on the construction of three 60-by-60-foot new hangars.
They will replace three older ones that were in poor condition.
Chambers said the goal is to have the foundations completed by winter and have the hangars ready for airplanes by next summer.
The airport previously received $1,585,761 from the Iowa Commercial Aviation Infrastructure Fund for this project. That money was available because Gov. Kim Reynolds deposited $100 million of federal pandemic relief money into that account.
Any money from the latest grant award which is not needed for the hangar project will be invested in the snow removal equipment building, which Chambers said is the oldest structure at the airport. It was built in 1952 and has a distinctive curved roof. Improvements there could include creation of a restroom at the aircraft self-fueling station.
Fueling system
The airport has two above-ground storage tanks that were installed in 1999. One contains 12,000 gallons of 100 Low Lead fuel; the other contains 12,000 gallons of Jet A fuel.
Those tanks supply the aircraft self-fueling station. The tanker truck that fuels planes on the ramp fills up at those tanks.
The grant money will help pay for new pipes, valves, emergency fuel shutoffs and primary fuel shutoffs.
"This will allow the fueling system to be compliant with the NFPA standards," Chambers said, referring to the National Fire Protection Association.
"It isn't that there's anything wrong with the tanks, but standards do change," she said.
The Airport Improvement Program that is helping to pay for this project gets its money from aircraft registration fees and aviation fuel taxes.