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Duluth airport, county emphasize need for new control tower as FAA project seeks state funding
Summary
Airport and county officials described a 70-year-old air-traffic control tower as a safety limitation and cited a joint resolution backing a state funding request to support FAA work on a new 143-foot tower site.
County and Duluth International Airport officials told the St. Louis County Board on Feb. 3 that a replacement air-traffic control tower is the airport’s top infrastructure priority and that the airport is pursuing state and federal funding to advance the project.
Tom Warner, executive director of Duluth International Airport, told commissioners the airport “provides about 760,600,000 to the annual regional economy, supports 62100 jobs,” and described the existing air-traffic control tower as 70 years old and the third-oldest still in use in the country. He said the Federal Aviation Administration selected a new site several years ago about a quarter-mile west and slightly south of the current tower and that the new tower design would be about 143 feet tall.
Warner said the current location and configuration prevent the airport from building a modern tower where the existing cab sits, and that a taller tower at the new FAA-selected site would better serve the mix of fast military jets, commercial air carriers and general aviation in local airspace. He said the airport plans to pursue roughly $14,000,000 in state support in Saint Paul during the coming legislative session.
Chair Harla noted the board had passed a joint letter of support with the City of Duluth and commissioners expressed appreciation for the airport’s outreach. Warner also pointed commissioners to a brochure showing other St. Louis County airports that rely on Duluth for traffic-control services, and he said last year’s construction activity at the airport produced tens of millions in regional impact unrelated to the tower project.
Board members voiced support for the project and for the county’s previously adopted resolution backing the airport’s funding request. The airport and county emphasized the regional impact of the tower — from commercial flights to military operations — and asked commissioners to continue advocacy at the state level.
The board took no separate funding vote at the meeting beyond the prior resolution of support; airport officials asked for continued intergovernmental backing as they pursue FAA and state funding.
