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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowA new French Lick Airport terminal designed to serve a growing number of travelers to southern Indiana’s Springs Valley will be nearly five times the size of the current facility built more than 40 years ago.
“It kind of had fallen on bad times and is not the image we like to project as we move forward to become a destination location,” said Bill Kimmel, vice president of the French Lick airport’s board of aviation commissioners.
The airport broke ground Friday for the new 3,434-square-foot terminal, which is scheduled for completion in about four months. The current terminal is only 700 square feet.
Airport Manager Brian Payne said the present terminal simply wasn’t built with present-day needs in mind. The airport last year had about 10,000 landings and takeoffs by aircraft from 38 states.
“The times are definitely changing. We’ve got a lot going on here,” Payne said.
The French Lick Resorts & Casino that opened in late 2006, golf courses designed by Pete Dye and Donald Ross, and the restored West Baden Springs Hotel are among the attractions drawing visitors to the remote area about 40 miles south of Bloomington. No major highways run through the valley.
Bloomington-based medical device maker Cook Group, the majority owner in the casino, donated the design work for the airport and some construction costs.
The terminal “is very important for people’s first impression when they come to French Lick by air,” said Steve Ferguson, Cook Group’s chairman. “We are going to see more people coming by air in the future.”
The Indiana Economic Development Corp. provided a $300,000 grant, and the Orange County Development Commission provided $250,000.
“It’s a front door to our community for the people that come by plane,” said Ray Walker, chairman of the Orange County Development Commission. “I think it’s going to mean great things, not just for the valley, but for our whole region.”
Golf parties use the airport to fly in from other states for the day, Payne said. The 5,500-foot runway can accommodate planes carrying as many as 30 passengers.
“We had several of those in last year,” Payne said, and several more are scheduled this year.
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