BECKLEY, W.Va. — Two of West Virginia’s airports will enjoy a million dollars each from the bi-partisan infrastructure agreement in Washington D.C. U.S. Senators Shelley Moore Capito and Joe Manchin this week announced the funding through grants from the Federal Aviation Administration to Charleston’s West Virginia International Yeager Airport and Beckley’s Raleigh County Memorial Airport.
In Beckley, Airport Manager Tom Cochran said the funding will be directed toward a project to expand the terminal over on the secure side of the facility.
“We’re updating that part of the terminal that has never been updated over the years. We have a larger aircraft serving the Beckley market now and it’s certainly something that’s needed,” he explained.
The project will increase the size of the waiting area from its current 15 seats to 50 and will add bathrooms on the secure side of the terminal.
“People will be able to go to the bathroom before leaving the sterile area and having to go through the screening process again,” Cochran explained.
The airport terminal was built in 1978 and has had no upgrades since that time. Cochran said 9/11 changed many of the aspects of the airport operations and the growth of the airport has also been extensive through the years, so this upgrade was extremely necessary for the future.
The project has been in the design phase for about a year and will soon go out to bid with the money now appropriated. Cochran hoped the work could be completed before the end of 2023.
The Million dollars allocated to Yeager Airport will be directed toward a new roof for the terminal building.
“The roof of the terminal has exceeded its useful life,” said airport spokesperson Paige Withrow.
The project will now be prepared to go out for bid. Withrow could not give a timeline for the project’s completion.