Harlan Kirgan
By today a construction schedule should be settled for a new terminal at the Eunice Airport.
Drew Miller, airport manager, said the 1,200-square-foot building is to cost $335,900 and the funding is coming from the state government.
A key fact for the terminal is the floor of the new building is going to be one foot higher than the present terminal, which is portable building brought in after a flood in 1978.
Flooding is not uncommon for the airport’s terminal building.
Miller estimated there have been about 15 flood events during his 32 years as airport manager.
Three years ago the original building was torn down after it was inundated with 38 inches of water.
The current building was brought in. During the August 2016 flooding the building had an inch and half of water in it.
There was also 24 inches of water in the south hangars and 17 inches in the north hangars, he said.
The terminal will be headed to higher ground and is to be located near a beacon light on the northwest corner of the aircraft parking pad.
The state Department of Transportation and Development could take the current building back, but Miller think that won’t happen, The city will likely be left to find another use for the temporary building.
The new terminal is the latest improvement.
The city received a $960,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation to resurface the 5,001-foot runway. that job was completed in December 2015.
Eunice Mayor Scott Fontenot said Miller has supervised continual improvements to the airport through federal and state grants.
“Drew does an awesome job with getting federal and state grants,” Fontenot said. “The city really spends minimal at that place.”
Fontenot added, “Everytime I see Drew come to City Hall he’s got more money for the airport.”
There are no commercial flights in and out of the airport, so the terminal is a pilot operation center and will include a place to warm food.
There are 32 aircraft at the airport and they range from ultra-lights to twin-engine planes.
The field’s runway is capable of handling corporate jets and they do come to Eunice, Miller said.
Miller said many people are likely unaware of the airport’s existence.
But he points out an airport is important because of its use in an emergency, its business traffic and its use by tourists.
“Lots of people come in for Mardi Gras,” he said as an example of the tourist use.
In an earlier story, the Louisiana Aviation System Plan June 2015 Executive Summary stated the airport has a total employment of 23, which is primarily support staff, with a total payroll of $715,000. The total output of the airport is $2.4 million.
The next project at the airport is a $150,000 project to trim trees that are in the approaches to the runway.