New Bedford committee hears $76 million airport revitalization plan, tables decision for three months

The New Bedford City Council special committee on the airport on Feb. 26 heard a presentation on a proposed revitalization of New Bedford Municipal Airport that would rebuild the terminal, relocate the air traffic control tower and add aircraft rescue, firefighting and maintenance buildings — a project staff estimated at roughly $72 million to $76 million in design and construction costs.

Scott Service, airport manager, told the committee that the project would rely heavily on federal and state grants and said the airport’s local share is expected to be roughly $3.8 million (about 5.5 percent). “If we know that we're not gonna be able to get out of having an airport and we need to have it, it's a small price to pay to increase it, to grow it, to make it into a self sustaining thing,” Service said.

Service described both constraints and opportunities. He told the committee the airport covers about 982 acres and that roughly one-third of that acreage came from the Department of Defense; closing the airport would require federal and state sign‑offs and could trigger large buybacks of property interests and grant-assurance repayments. “That's about a $100,000,000 purchase for…