WHITE LAKE – In preparation for a $20 million-plus rebuild, the John J.J. McGough Terminal at Sullivan County International Airport will close this Tuesday, May 30 to make way for construction of a new facility.
“Airport operations will be unaffected,” said Public Works Commissioner Edward McAndrew, whose team of engineers, airport workers and laborers have already removed furniture, fixtures and other items from the 55-year-old building. “Throughout the two years of this project, the airport will remain open for takeoffs, landings, maintenance/repairs, storage, refueling and flight instruction.”
The Sullivan County Legislature has accepted an $18.5 million grant from the Governor’s Upstate Airport Development & Revitalization Program, administered by the New York State Department of Transportation, to replace the aging 8,000-square-foot terminal and its detached utilities building with a 12,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art, two-story facility that will feature a mezzanine, outdoor deck and rentable office space.
“The Legislature added $4 million of county funding to this project because we feel this rebuild is essential to attracting the kind of activity and development that the airport is capable of sustaining,” said Legislature Chairman Robert Doherty, in whose District 1 the airport sits. “Couple this with the other ongoing investments in the airport, and we believe this facility will be an attractive and competitive destination for aviation and non-aviation businesses.”
Pilots and passengers flying in to the airport will still find a pilot lounge within Hangar H7 and 24-hour bathrooms inside the ARFF Building adjacent to the terminal.
