The Plymouth Municipal Airport will be closing Monday May 18th for the renovation and widening of the runway. The work will force the closure of the airport for a scheduled 62 days. When the project is finished, the runway will be widened to a standard 75 feet (from its present 60 feet). The length will remain the same.
A new business will be moving to the Plymouth Municipal Airport despite the closure. Aeromotive, Inc will be moving in. The company does upholstery repair and renovation. They work on airplanes but also on cars and other types of upholstery. They hope to catch up on cars, buggies and other work until the airport reopens so they can work on planes.
In other business the Board of Aviation Commissioner approved the lease of the northwest lower level of the terminal building to Plymouth Sky Sports. The Girl Scouts who had used the area free of charge moved out two weeks ago. While the space will go to Plymouth Sky Sports it is needed as a construction office during the runway renovation. Plymouth Sky Sports will not be charged for the space until after the construction is complete and they can actually move in.
The board also approved a police to help current airplane owners during the construction. If a plane must move during the runway closure and pay for rental space at another airport, they can present those rental bills and they will get credit for two months hanger rental.
Dr. Bruce Breden of Telamon Corporation had a proposal for the board Tuesday evening. That company builds solar farms to generate electricity. They are interested in an agreement with the board for use of one acre along U.S. 30 for a solar farm. The project will be part of a NIPSCO plan for solar generation. Only some of the proposal will be used. NIPSCO will determine which in a drawing, but the plan must be in place and an application presented within the week. If the project is drawn and if both parties choose to proceed, the company would pay the airport a fee of $10,000 up front and the $700 a year for 15 years. At the end of that time period, the solar farm would belong to the airport.
