Governor Scott Walker joined city officials, local representatives and the Merrill Airport Commission Thursday morning for a ribbon cutting and dedication ceremony for the new airport terminal at Merrill Municipal Airport.
“The new and modern airport terminal here at the Merrill Municipal Airport will undoubtedly serve as a major benefit to local businesses and municipalities across the region,” Governor Walker said. “The new terminal not only demonstrates our continued commitment to improving infrastructure across Wisconsin, it also equips the Merrill Municipal Airport with the resources and space needed to handle the growing commerce needs of the area.”
Construction of the new terminal building concluded in February 2015, and the facility officially opened to the public shortly after. The terminal building cost a total of $425,000, with $325,000 funded by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), and almost $50,000 from the Wisconsin Department of Transportation (WisDOT), which was matched by the city of Merrill.
The project was managed by WisDOT’s Bureau of Aeronautics, and the building and design process was completed by local Wisconsin businesses, including Marathon Technical Services and Athens Lumber.
The Merrill Municipal Airport is now fully able to support the growth of aviation in the Merrill area and handle the nationwide and global commerce needs of corporate businesses interested in locating to the region.
In the next five years, the city of Merrill has planned an additional $6,500,000 investment in the Merrill Municipal Airport, with nearly $6,000,000 of that coming from the FAA. Future projects include rehabilitating pavements in the hangar area, reconstructing the crosswind runway, possible parallel taxiway construction, and general aviation development area expansion.