$10M appropriation about 15 years in the works, Gateway Airport officials say
Congressman Darren Soto (center) and Kissimmee Airport Director Shawn Germolus (far right) were at Friday's announcement of a $10 million federal grant awarded to the airport toward building a new traffic control tower. (Photo/Ken Jackson)
Kissimmee Gateway Airport will receive a $10 million federal grant to help replace its aging control tower.
The grant, announced Friday at an announcement at Orlando International Airport, covers roughly half of the project price tag, which will replace the airport’s aging control tower with a modern facility designed to improve operational efficiency that meets current Federal Aviation Authority standards.
“It’ll even have an elevator, so our controllers don’t have to climb those four flights of steps every shift,” Kissimmee Airport Director Shawn Germolus said.
He said the airport and the city is pursuing Florida Department of Transportation funding to help defray the rest of the $20 million project, which will be designed twice as tall as the current tower at an eye-level height of 85 feet and a total structural height of 115 feet in order to improve visibility working conditions and operational efficiency.
“It’s part of the city’s broader commitment to investing in the airport as a center for business aviation, enhanced air mobility, aviation workforce development, tourism and economic growth.”
Congressman Darren Soto (D-Kissimmee) called the Kissimmee Airport “fast growing,” and its control tower “antiquated.”
“This new tower is critical as Kissimmee pursues more executive travel and flight training opportunities,” Soto said. “I commend Shawn for slaying the bureaucracy of hundreds of pages (in the application process).”
Germolus said securing funding to replace the tower has been a challenging 15-year process, but this year the federal Contract Tower Program was included in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which is providing over $85 million for such projects nationwide.
Should the rest of the funding be secured on schedule, Germolus said work could begin next year and be completed in 2029.
The Orlando and Kissimmee airports together will receive $43 million from a federal infrastructure bill; the Orlando International Airport will get expanded and upgraded bathrooms in its A and B Terminals.
“Both of these programs are desperately needed,” Soto said.
