Allegan’s new airport terminal building will be celebrated with a ribbon cutting and open house on Thursday, May 30, from 6 to 8 p.m. The public is invited to tour the facility and enjoy grilled hot dogs and refreshments.
The new $625,000 terminal at Allegan’s Padgham Field Airport was finished in December 2018, by McGraw Construction of Grand Rapids.
The 1,600-square-foot terminal is attached to the old one, built in the 1970s, and rented to a private company along with the main hangar next to it. Of the airport’s 36 hangars, Sky Dive Allegan is one of the rentals.
The terminal project has been five years in the making, waiting for annual Federal Aviation Administration entitlements of $150,000 annually to fund it and development of a terminal study using plans that are FAA-eligible. Funding from the Michigan Department of Transportation and the city helped with the project.
The terminal includes a refrigerator and vending space; a kitchenette; a pilot’s planning room; a lounge; ADA accessible restrooms equipped with showers; and LED lighting with motion sensors.
Aviators can activate the runway lights and beacons by radio, fuel up on their own, and have code access to the terminal building.
Virginia Ransbottom can be contacted at vransbottom@allegannews.com or at (269) 673-5534.
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