Rosecrans receives nearly $20 million for infrastructure upgrades
By Riley Funk
Rosecrans Memorial Airport has the funding in place to move into the next phase of upgrades thanks to city council approval Monday night.
City council officials unanimously approved Bill No. 713-22, which grants $19.7 million for the Rosecrans Memorial Airport Aviation Complex project, which includes a new air traffic control tower and terminal building.
Rosecrans has seen other improvements recently, including construction on the runway, which opened in January.
According to city documents, the funding has been allocated by state and federal agencies. The funds will be made available to St. Joseph through various grants from the Missouri Highway and Traffic Safety Commission and the Federal Aviation Administration.
Abe Forney, director of public works and transportation, said this project means a great deal to the community, and particularly, the 139th Airlift Wing.
“I really do think that Rosecrans is the gateway to our community … The 139th Airlift Wing is worth over 200 million (dollars) annually to our economy,” Forney said. “To be able to put $19 million worth of infrastructure in our airport, that will help them utilize the air a little bit safer, is a small price to pay.”
Forney said the project came together with help from many representatives of the community, including Sam Graves, Dan Hegeman, Tony Luetkemeyer, Bill Faulkner and Brenda Shields.
“Full support from our city council, full support from our representatives, state and federal … all of them worked together to get this project,” Forney said.
Forney said there is a tremendous need to have this project for Rosecrans.
“All of this infrastructure is aging. The more that we can upgrade and utilize some of these grants (federal grants and state grants) is going to be a great way to get that upgrade done,” Forney said.
Currently, work is being done on the terminal building at the site. Forney said the next phase of the project is the tower.
Forney said it is difficult to predict how long the project will take when it starts.
“We’ll get it done as soon as we can. I’m assuming that it’s going to take a little over two years, but with construction projects, we’ll just wait and see. We’ll keep on them as much as we can, but we’re going to have a good product when it’s over,” Forney said.
Other notes:
In addition to the passing of funding for the project, a lump sum contract was passed for groups that will complete the project.
E.L. Crawford Construction Inc. will have a lump sum contract for $11,088,918. Woolpert Inc. will receive a lump sum construction management contract worth $2,323,079, according to city documents.
