Construction of new tower at Athens airport could coincide with new passenger service

Jim Thompson
·2 min read
The FAA recently chose a tower design submitted by a New York-based architectural firm, Practice for Architecture and Urbanism (PAU), as its template for towers at Athens-Ben Epps Airport.
The FAA recently chose a tower design submitted by a New York-based architectural firm, Practice for Architecture and Urbanism (PAU), as its template for towers at Athens-Ben Epps Airport.

If current timelines and aspirations hold, attracting commercial passenger air service to Athens-Ben Epps Airport could roughly coincide with the opening of a new control tower.

At a recent meeting, members of the Athens-Ben Epps Airport Authority learned that a new control tower to be constructed with federal dollars could open within a year and a half to two years. That’s roughly the timeframe within which the airport is hoping to have new commercial passenger service in place for the first time since 2014.

Despite their possible proximity in time, the two events – bringing commercial passenger air service to the airport, and having a new control tower – are not specifically related.

Airport officials learned months ago that the four-decade old Athens-Ben Epps tower would be replaced through the federal Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. The local tower replacement is part of a $500 million Federal Aviation Administration project to replace aging control towers at 31 smaller airports across the United States. Elsewhere in Georgia, Middle Georgia Regional Airport is also slated to get a new control tower through Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funding.

At the recent Athens-Ben Epps Airport Authority meeting, Airport Director Mike Mathews told authority members that he will be meeting soon with FAA officials to discuss siting options for the new tower. In connection with those discussions, it’s likely that the new tower will be placed in a different location than the existing tower.

More: Athens airport wants to pursue American Airlines, others as new service provider

Currently located between the airport’s fire station and its flight center, moving the tower to a new location could make it easier for a new hangar or other facility to be installed at the airport, Mathews told the authority.

The new tower will be somewhat larger and taller than the existing facility, and will continue to operate under the tower’s current 8 a.m. until 8 p.m. daily schedule at current staffing levels, according to Mathews.

During the authority meeting, Mathews said he expects that the new tower could be in place within 18 months to two years. That timeline closely tracks the airport’s current strategic plan goal to have an airline recruited to provide commercial passenger service by the end of next year.

The new tower will be built as part of the FAA’s Sustainable Tower Design Initiative in which recycled metals, materials free from components that can cause health risks, thermal efficiency and all-electric operating systems are featured.

Under the sustainability initiative, the FAA recently chose a tower design submitted by a New York-based architectural firm, Practice for Architecture and Urbanism (PAU), as its template for towers at Athens-Ben Epps Airport and elsewhere in the nation’s air travel system. PAU specializes in infrastructure, institutional and public space architecture.

This article originally appeared on Augusta Chronicle: Construction of tower at Athens airport could coincide with new service