Public works director Justin Nickel said the plan is to build a bigger hangar and a new terminal.

“We have the funding and we are moving forward on construction which should begin in the fall of 2020,” he said.

The total cost of the airport project is $2.6 million. The Federal Aviation Administration will provide $600,000 for the hangar and the Iowa Department of Transportation will fund $470,000 for site preparation and the terminal.

“The terminal is less of a guarantee, but I would bet that both are happening,” Nickel said.

The rest of the money for the project will be supplied by the city.

Given the scope of the project and the different government agencies involved, Nickel said construction should be complete in the spring or summer of 2020. The funding from the FAA will not even be available until after October 2020.

The larger hangar will help the airport, which is five miles north of town, house corporate jets from businesses such as JBS, Lennox and Emerson Process Management.

“The door in the current hangar is not tall enough for today’s jets,” Nickel said. “The tails are taller. We need the hangar so the jets can be here overnight.”

Marshalltown Mayor Joel Greer said the new hangar, which is slated to be 100×125 feet with a 25-foot door, would be a benefit to businesses in town.

It has been the hope of the city from an economic development standpoint to bring the project to fruition.

Nickel helped give a presentation about the project to the Rotary Club of Marshalltown on Tuesday in an effort to build support from the community.

“Not a lot of people use the airport,” he said. “We need to garner support and based on the comments received afterward, I think we did that.”

The design for the terminal and the hangar should be completed in three to six months by Clapsaddle-Garber Associates of Marshalltown.

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Contact Lana Bradstream at 641-753-6611 or lbradstream@timesrepublican.com.