Last month, the Arizona Department of Transportation announced the cancelation of construction of a small building at Grand Canyon National Park Airport. As Arizona Public Radio’s Ryan Heinsius reports, the agency still plans to build a new terminal and construct a well.
The 2,000-square-foot modular building would have been built next to the terminal and served as a temporary passenger holding area. It would have put the airport in compliance with Transportation Security Administration regulations. ADOT canceled the plan after discovering additional costs associated with the construction.
But, despite calling off the project, a spokesman for ADOT says the agency will still go ahead with plans to eventually replace the 49-year-old terminal. Ryan Harding says the rebuild will not include expansion of the terminal or the runway.
Separately, ADOT is going ahead with the environmental study of drilling a water well at the airport. In 2012, the Federal Aviation Administration ordered the airport to shut down its water catchment system citing safety concerns. ADOT says a new water source is important for airport operations as well as firefighting in the event of a plane crash or wildfire.
However, local conservation groups oppose the well’s construction claiming it will tap out natural springs important to the ecology of Grand Canyon.
In 2013, Grand Canyon National Park Airport served nearly 304,000 passengers.
