KENDALLVILLE — The city’s airport will get a new set of energy-efficient runway lights after being one of just two Indiana communities selected to receive a large federal grant.
Kendallville Municipal Airport will receive $451,900 from the Federal Aviation Administration to upgrade to LED lights. The airport won’t receive the grant funds until the project is bid and actual costs can be submitted, said airport consultant Mark Shillington of Woolpert Inc.
The federal agency announced the nationwide 2015 grant recipients on Wednesday, giving out more than $500 million to more than 300 airports.
The grant will cover 90 percent of the expected cost, with the state and the airport providing 5 percent each. Kendallville’s 5 percent match for the project would be about $24,000. That will be paid for out of the airport’s budget, aviation board member Ron Hite said.
Replacing the incandescent lights with more efficient LEDs could save the airport about 40 percent per year in utility costs, Hite said. The runway is about 4,400 feet long, and the new lights will stretch the entire length of the pavement.
The current lighting system has been in place for years and is requiring more maintenance, so the newer, brighter system will save the airport staff and time and money, Hite said.
“Obviously the FAA felt that way, too, otherwise we wouldn’t have gotten the grant,” Hite said.
Kendallville was one of only two Indiana airports to receive funding. The other, Columbus Municipal Airport south of Indianapolis, received a $2.25 million grant.
The runways will need to be closed when workers are installing the new electrical cables and lights, since they will need to work within 200 feet of the runway, Shillington said. Contractors will mostly be working in the evening to minimize disruption to flights at the airport, he said.
The project should take about 45 days to complete and whether it gets done this fall or next spring will depend on when the Federal Aviation Administration releases the funding, Shillington said. If the money doesn’t arrive until later this fall, the lighting upgrades may need to wait until after winter, he said.
About 40 aircraft and a glider club are based at Kendallville’s airport. The airport averages about two to five aircraft takeoffs and landings daily. Weekly, two or three small commercial aircraft will bring in passengers who are visiting or on business.
The project is being done primarily to replace aging equipment, although LED lights are typically a little brighter than conventional bulbs, so pilots should be able to see them a little more clearly, Hite said.
“We have runway lights now and everything, and we’re upgrading that system. It’s beginning to cost you money, and we have to maintain those. They’re getting old,” Hite said.
This isn’t the first time Kendallville has received a large federal grant. About two years ago, the FAA funded a project to grind up and repave the airport’s runway, Hite said.
Although the airport is mostly used for general aviation, it does also bring in some business traffic from corporate users who fly into the area, Hite said.
“It’s been an asset to Kendallville, and hopefully we’ve kept it up and we’re drawing in some more corporate things than we had,” Hite said.