A $25 million-plus project that broke ground in Bridgeport more than three years ago should see its main component completed next month.

During a recent meeting of the Benedum Airport Authority, officials were told that the new terminal building – barring unforeseen circumstances – should be complete in October. An exact date was not listed for when airport officials hope it will be completed.

“We won’t be operational as a terminal, per se, but as far as the building being done, we’re nearing the finish line,” said NCWV Airport Director Rick Rock. “We’ll probably move in a small number of staff to get it up and running and, at the same time, we’ll be looking for a way to repurpose this (existing terminal) building.”

Deputy Director Shawn Long further emphasized how close they were at the August 20 meeting of the Authority, the airport’s governing body.

“We’ll be looking here in about two to three weeks to start our punch list walk though and final inspections,” said Long, who added after the meeting that the terminal project is likely closer to $27 million at this point.

As far as when the terminal will be operational for public use, Rock said the goal is early summer of 2025. He said, tentatively, the month for that is June.

“We want it operational by the busy early part of summer next year,” said Rock. “A lot of that will be determined on how construction season plays out. At the same time, we’re still going to be prudent with our funds and our funding sources and make sure we don’t put any undo timelines on anything that will hurt a project by opening earlier than we should when it’s aimed at serving the community for decades to come.”

The new terminal will have inside baggage claim, expanded seating areas, TSA checkpoints, and airport officials believe, the only escalator system in Harrison County.

For those wondering why the terminal will not be in use once complete, it stems from additional projects that have to be completed to make everything tie together. The projects include the new apron, parking lot, taxiway, roadways, intersection enhancement from Jerry Dove Drive onto the property, and more.

“Most of those contracts have been let, but there are a few still needing to go out to bid,” said Rock. “We have good contractors out there so barring anything beyond their control we’re excited about seeing this to a total completion.”

Bridgeport Mayor Andy Lang, a member of the Authority, said there are 11 contracts associated with the overall project. He said the reason for the substantial number of contracts is the airport used multiple funding sources to complete various phases of the work.

While planning for the project goes back many years and discussion on a new terminal goes back decades, the actual groundbreaking took place June 25, 2021. Although the process seems long, Lang said this terminal project is in the fast lane.

“The FAA says that the time you get a concept to build a new terminal building the average time is 10 years,” said Lang. “We’ve only been four years since the concept came to this table … We’re way ahead of the average.”