“This state allocation provides the catalytic funds we need for our second runway reopening project,” Port Authority Executive Director T. Alex Beres said in a release. “For years we’ve known that we’d need a significant funding source to allow us to begin the work of preserving and rehabilitating a major economic development asset for the region, and this does that.”
A former Air Force base, Wilmington Air Park is home to Air Transport Services Group, ABX Air, an Amazon Air cargo-sorting operation, the Ohio/Indiana UAS Center and much else.
“This really is a once-in-a-lifetime additional opportunity to fund these critical projects,” state Sen. Bob Hackett, R-London, said. “From making sure Wright-Patterson Air Force Base has the backing for future economic development to simply making sure our community centers are a welcoming and safe place for our children and families, these dollars help build a foundation for a positive future here at home.”
Last used regularly in 2009, the shorter runway at the air park was closed in 2010 as part of the site’s transition to the Port Authority, after DHL moved its international business from Wilmington to Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky.
Working with the Federal Aviation Administration, the port authority said the runway has been closed but not removed from service for the last 14 years.
LGSTX Services, contracted by the Port Authority to maintain the airport, has kept the runway and the area around it serviced, the port said.
Beres said the reopening of the runway will take time. “The reopening process will take years not months.”
The runway is 9,000 feet long and 150 feet wide. Additional work will be needed for painting, lighting and navigational aids. The state funds are considered a first step.
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