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Last updated on Friday, April 10, 2015
(BEDFORD) - Residents on Tunnelton Road may have noticed the numerous gravel trucks traveling to the Virgil I. Grissom Municipal airport.
Crews are working to renovate the 4,500-foot runway.
Jeff Lytton of the Lawrence County Board of Aviation says the runway was last repaired in 1973. Because of the rough runway, the airport and county has lost business.
Rehabilitating the runway with concrete (which has a longer lifespan) will cost about $3.1 million. That price includes not only rehabbing the runway but installing new lights and grooving the surface for safety.
An FAA grant will cover 90 percent of the cost and money from the Indiana Department of Transportation would pay for 5 percent. That leaves a local match of 5 percent - about $200,000. The airport already has about $120,000 in a runway improvement fund. The county council approved to pay the remaining $80,000 needed for the project.
Once the runway is done the aviation board is hoping to draw some business from the PGA Champions Tour planned in French Lick on May 21-24
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