The Fort Worth City Council on May 1 authorized the city to apply for a grant from the Texas Department of Transportation Aviation Division for up to $8.1 million for the design and construction of the Midfield Redevelopment Project at Meacham International Airport.
It also authorized use of mineral lease revenue from city-owned airports and transfer of funds for the city’s grants match up to $900,319.00, covering the city’s 10 percent grants match.
The council adopted a resolution In February 2015 supporting the closure and redevelopment of Runway 9/27 at the airport. The redevelopment will create new taxiways to stimulate hangar development and provide increased income for the airport through lease revenue and fuel fees.
“This is the next step in Meacham Airport’s future. Meacham has seen tremendous growth in recent years with both new and existing tenants expanding at the airport and adding new facilities,” said Jeff Kloska, assistant airport systems director. “Due to all of this explosive growth, Meacham is near capacity when it comes to developable land for hangars.”
Kloska said the project should add roughly 1.3 million square feet of developable land.
He said that over the past five years operations at Meacham have grown as the tenants and the aviation industry as a whole is seeing strong growth. He said tenants are continuing to expand and a waiting list exists for new developable land.
“This has the potential to be an important economic redevelopment opportunity for Meacham Airport,” said District 2 Councilman Carlos Flores, in whose district the airport lies. “If the grant is awarded to Fort Worth, it affords Meacham Airport the ability to increase aircraft operations and create more economic opportunities for District 2 and the city.”