Airport project closer to reality

By Ken Bonner
The Daily Sentinel

Published March 23, 2007

To borrow a phrase, "Off we go into the wild blue yonder" may soon be reality at Scottsboro Municipal/Word Field Airport.

The Scottsboro City Council will consider a recommendation to approve bids and begin construction on T-hangars at the facility at their regularly scheduled meeting Monday, Mar. 26. The move, if approved, is expected to bring more airplanes to the airport.

"We recommend Tolar Construction," Kreis Wetherington of Barge, Wagoner, Sumner and Cannon, a Huntsville architectural and engineering firm, said in reporting to the council at Monday night's work session. "I feel this is about as good a price as we're going to get on these hangars. Prices have skyrocketed."

Tolar Construction's low bid was $540,285 with other bids coming in from Clanton Construction Company at $586,722 and Chorba Contracting Corporation at $666,177, according to Wetherington. Approximately $250,000 of the project will be paid for by state and aviation grants. The city will pay the balance of construction costs.

The Scottsboro Planning Commission approved the expansion and site-design in Dec. 2006. The building will include eight T-hangars. Long range plans call for another similar building to be constructed.

Earlier the low bid on the project was approximately $750,000. Wetherington said the plan was revised to remove some earthwork, concrete pad and paving out of the bid package and place it in the proposed second phase.