Upper Cumberland Regional Airport set to undertake several infrastructure upgrades, including foundation repairs to Hangar Row A.
Airport Director Dean Selby said work on the hangar row is expected to start within the next two weeks and be finished in 60 days.
“We’ve still got some issues to work through, it’s a work in progress,” Selby said. “That’s a big project and we’re making progress on it, working with the engineers and design firms. It’s just that, there’s been a lot of back and forth, and we’ve not got the conceptual design exactly where we think it needs to be yet.”
The facility is also undergoing a mandated update to its spill prevention, control, and countermeasures plan for the first time in two decades. Selby said the redesign of the terminal building also planned.
Selby said the vision for the new terminal includes an opening toward the runway to provide passengers with an open view of all airport activity.
“We’d like to see a grand opening toward the runway to where when passengers are waiting, be it commercial service or general aviation, either one, that they have a open view to the runway,” Selby said. “And be able to see everything that’s coming and going and kind of just have a good, big view of what’s happening and easy accessibility and be able to blend general aviation and some light commercial if we start, you know, like some regional flights or something out of here.”
Dean said fuel sales, which serve as the primary indicator of business health, have stabilized following significant growth between 2020 and 2023. Dean said the airport must remain flexible with its budget due to the lack of large capital reserves.
“We have to be agile enough with our response to changes in the business environment that if it goes down, we have to respond immediately by cutting expenses or finding ways to stop certain things that might have happened otherwise,” Selby said.
Selby said the airport may not be able to currently secure funding for several maintenance projects, due to the volatility of the fuel current fuel prices.
“If (fuel) sales go down, we have to respond accordingly by being able to make those changes to our expenditures just like you do in your household budget and just like a business on the street does,” Shelby said. “We’re no different than anybody else that has to be able to respond to changing financial environment.”
Selby also said the new airport website is expected to go live within the next two months to meet ADA compliance requirements for government agencies.