The Gary/Chicago International Airport Authority on Monday authorized its engineer, NGC Corp., to begin design work on a long-awaited customs facility.
The facility would be located in a building currently used as a helicopter hangar. Airport Executive Director Dan Vicari said the customs facility would use the building's existing shell, but would have new mechanical systems and flooring, its garage door would be removed, and windows would be put on the south side in a "storefront" style.
"We're hoping to still get this done this year," Vicari said of the facility.
A U.S. Customs and Border Protection spokesman said last month that the agency is awaiting completion of the 30-percent design plan from the Gary airport before it can move forward in the approval process.
The design work will cost $69,000, which will be paid from the airport's cumulative building fund.
The customs facility would allow the Gary airport to accept international flights. Currently, those flights have to clear customs at another U.S. airport before flying on to Gary.
In other business, John Lucas of airport expansion project manager AECOM told the board that Federal Aviation Administration officials were given a tour of the airport's recently expanded runway on June 21. Pending the airport's addressing of any "punch list" concerns government officials might have, the airport will be able to close out its contracts for the $174 million expansion soon.
"Hopefully in the next month or two we'll have those contracts closed out," he said.
Also, the airport operations report report for May showed an increase in operations -- the number of takeoffs and landings -- over a year ago. This May, there were 2,585 operations, as compared to 2,168 a year ago, according to the monthly report.
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