(Danville) — Some major projects at the local airport are getting a big boost from Richmond.
The Virginia Aviation Board has approved more than nine-and-a-half million dollars for 19 projects across the Commonwealth. Four of them target improvements at Danville Regional Airport.
One-and-a-half million will help with site preparation for a new Aviation Training Facility. The plans include a 12,532-square-foot facility for aviation maintenance and flight instruction training. The Danville Aviation Training Facility at Danville Regional Airport will include advanced education, research and training. The new hangar will be used by Danville Community College’s Aviation Maintenance Technology Program and Averett University’s Aeronautics Program.
The new hanger should be completed in the summer of 2025. Earlier this summer, the U.S. Economic Development Administration announced a $4.1 million grant for the project.
Also, the state aviation board awarded Danville Regional Airport one-point-eight million dollars for site prep for a new corporate box hangar site. Another grant will expand the airport’s parking lot.
An additional fourth project will cover supplemental civil engineering design services for the aviation training facility project that involved a total project cost of $19,922. State aid for that project is $15,937 and the local match is $13,090.
Airport Director Mark Adelman says these projects were not eligible for state funding in the last fiscal year. The Virginia Aviation Board revised their funding policy that allowed those projects to be eligible this year.
“The two large site prep construction projects identified in the attachment for the aviation training facility and hangar development in the t-hangar building area will be funded by the state at 90% versus the typical 80% state funding level since surplus state funding was available for the August Virginia Aviation Board meeting,” Adelman said.