Ground broken for new aviation terminal

By: Rebekah Carter | SCNow
Published: June 13, 2008

For those who use Myrtle Beach International Airport’s General Aviation Terminal, they can expect a makeover coming soon.

Members of Horry County Council, along with House and Senate members, airport officials, and members of the community celebrated the ground breaking for a new terminal Friday afternoon.

Planning for the new GA terminal began about eighteen 18 months ago, and today those plans were put into action.

“This GA terminal is real important to the people of Horry County and especially Myrtle Beach and the tourism industry and this is going to happen,” says Horry County Councilman, Harold Worley.

Something that’s going to help it happen, is the $3 million the county received from the state Friday to help fund the project. Two-million of that came from the state’s budget, and the other $1 million from the state’s Division of Aeronautics.

But there’s still more money that’s needed for the project, and that’s what has at least one person concerned.

“They’re (County Council) needing to increase the funding by about $500,000,” says terminal-user, Doug Decker. “This has not been approved by the Horry County Council as of today,” he says.

Decker is in full support of the new terminal and agrees with council members that the county needs one. But he thinks more planning and consideration needed to be made before they had the ground-breaking.

Worley combats those comments by saying that the additional funds needed are accounted for in the Enterprise Airport Fund, but that Council needs to formally vote on it. When asked when that vote would be, Worley says it should be within the next two council meetings.

One thing council has had to work out is how much the new terminal will cost.

“We’ve had a little problem with cost,” he says, “Everyone can understand what’s going on with that.”

The problem is that construction costs have risen 25% since planning began a year and a half ago.

Worley stresses the cost difference has nothing to do with estimates being off-base or wrong from the beginning. He says it’s strictly a result of the economy and energy costs right now.

M.B Kahn Construction Company is expected to begin construction soon, and the terminal should be finished sometime in 2009.

The total estimated cost for the terminal is $4.5million dollars. So far, $3.8 million has been given to the county from the state and grants.

Airport officials are excited for the new terminal, and are hoping it will help draw business to the area.