In 2024, Watonga Regional Airport was on the Oklahoma Department of Aeronautics and Aviation five-year plan for a new terminal with construction slated for 2029 and matching funds required.
But last year, it leapfrogged up the ladder when the state director of aeronautics, Grayson Ardies, selected the airport for a fully funded grant for the terminal construction. The cost is expected to be about $3.5 million.
The construction is one step closer to fruition now, with the city council approving the preliminary schematic drawings for the terminal.
Airport manager Jena Ohman, City Manager Leroy Alsup and members of city council had visited multiple other airports in Western Oklahoma and selected their favorite exteriors and interior elements. Those choices are now melded into a single design, which was presented to city council on Tuesday night.
The design shows banks of windows to the east and west, where pilots and the public, respectively, will approach.
“We wanted a place where the general public feels welcome,” Ohman said. ' A place where they can come, watch the planes, maybe eat, with outdoor seating.”
The plans include a pilots’ lounge that may be accessed around the clock with a key code, and a safe room in case of bad weather. The access code security system is required by the ODAA. When the airport is closed, the pilots’ designated area is closed off from the rest of the terminal.
The building will also house a conference room, two office spaces, one for the airport manager and the other with an eye toward an assistant, but also with expansion in mind.
The second office will be part of the growth plan, allowing for removal of a wall to facilitate expansion to the south, perhaps to accommodate a restaurant or other needs.
“This is a major upgrade,” Ohman laughed.
Access to the facility will be via a road connecting to Airport Road west of the old golf course buildings. The long term plan for the airport include two areas for construction of more hangars with taxiways and apron space.
The $3.5 million directed legislative grant will cover the $2.5 million cost of the terminal and parking, the engineers and architects on the project have said.
But the additional $1 million for the road and extension of utilities to the terminal will not be sufficient to cover those costs.
When the project was first considered, there was the possibility of an additional Aviation Commission grant for those costs.
However, Toby Baker with Parkhill, the project engineers, said he had been in touch with the commission immediately prior to the meeting to ascertain whether that money was still on the table and learned it was available.
That would pay 95% of the remaining cost over $1 million, leaving the city to make a 5% match, which Alsup estimated at about $50,000.
When it came time for the question, the city council agreed to prepare the packets and send the project to bid so that it could get underway as soon as possible.