Money will allow completion of $21 million airport project
2/4/2004
Thee fiscal 2005 federal budget request released Monday by the White House includes $11 million to help build a new air traffic control tower at Huntsville International Airport.
The money should allow the Huntsville-Madison County Airport Authority to complete construction of the new tower, which will cost about $21 million.
The airport authority is using $1.7 million in federal grant money for design and site selection. That money had originally been allocated to refurbish the existing tower that was built in 1967. Another $8 million was included in the fiscal year 2004 Consolidated Appropriations Act to begin construction of the tower.
The new tower will be 219 feet at eye level for the air traffic controller, said airport authority spokeswoman Cindy Maloney. That means the controller sees from 219 feet above ground. The completion date is late 2007 or early 2008. The existing tower is 97 feet at eye level.
Beginning this week, the House Appropriations Committee will begin discussions on the president's budget proposal. U.S. Rep. Bud Cramer, D-Huntsville, is a member of the committee.
"I have worked hard with the administration to make sure that the Huntsville International Airport tower is a high priority," said Cramer. "With more and more people traveling to North Alabama, we should prepare for our future needs. We need to make sure that folks can safely travel to and from North Alabama.
"In addition, we need to prepare our area for future economic growth," he added. "This new tower is going to make our airport and region more attractive to businesses interested in locating in North Alabama. I am pleased to see that President Bush included this important project in his (fiscal year) '05 budget request."