Kimball Municipal Airport building 6 new hangars

Kimball City Council approved a request from the local Airport Authority Board’s chairman Jason Lockwood for increased funds this year.

The request for more than $45,000 came at the regular board meeting on Tuesday, Aug. 4. The total funding would be split up with $20,000 for operating costs and $25,000 for a new bond.

“If you’ve ever been out to the airport, you have seen that we have a construction project going on,” Lockwood explained. “We are doing a sizable expansion of the hangars.”

Lockwood said opening the doors of many of the aging hangars, which date back to the early 1950s, is difficult. He added that it is nearly impossible to open them in the winter.

The airport board plans on building six new hangars as hangar rental is one of the main fundraisers for the airport.

“They are going to be big enough to handle a little bit bigger aircraft than what we normally have out there,” Lockwood said.

Lockwood said the runway at the local airport is large enough to land a 747, if necessary.

“Three of the six hangars are spoken for,” Lockwood added. “We are always full and hangars are always at a premium.”

The current bond for the expansion of the taxiway, a project that cost $1.5 million, will be paid off this year.

“We decided to pay off the taxiway,” Lockwood said. “We will be taking on more debt but we will still have just one payment.”

Pine Bluffs and Cheyenne airfields are always full as well, according to Lockwood, prompting pilots from Cheyenne and the front range to seek hangar rentals in Kimball.

“We definitely took advantage of that,” Lockwood added.

Other fundraising comes from fuel sales, as well as selling grass hay and wheat that grow on airport land, Lockwood said.

“The Air Force is actually our biggest buyer of fuel and we poured a helipad for them a few years ago near the fuel pumps,” Lockwood said. “Those revenue streams that we have helps us to take care of our maintenance without asking city taxpayers to do that.”