The federal government has awarded millions of dollars in grants to upgrade the Newport State Airport in Coventry to facilitate economic growth in the region.
The airport will receive $7.6 million from the U.S. Department of Transportation to upgrade the airport’s taxiway and extend the runway. Another $729,000 will help build infrastructure for snow removal.
Sens. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Rep. Peter Welch, D-Vt., announced the grants last week. The money is in addition to $8.8 million the Federal Aviation Administration awarded to the airport last year.
The airport currently features several small hangars and one runway. Bill Stenger, a developer in the region, is planning a 10,000-square-foot terminal for $20 million. The airport will be renamed the Northeast Kingdom International Airport on March 1.
“These grants are an investment in the economic growth of the Northeast Kingdom,” Vermont’s congressional delegation said in a joint statement. “(W)e are facilitating the growing tourism industry, bringing new business and encouraging job growth in the region that is filled with promise.”
In a separate statement, the delegation announced a $1.2 million federal grants package for organizations in the northern border region. The Northern Border Regional Commission was involved in coordinating those grants.
The Fairbanks Museum received $250,000 for building renovation; the Vermont Department of Forests, Parks, and Recreation got $200,000 for recreation improvements; the Vermont Sustainable Jobs Fund got $153,000 to assist the forest products industry; the village of Enosburg Falls got $121,000 to convert a brownfield site.
The Vermont Agency of Transportation also received $250,000 to improve the wastewater treatment infrastructure surrounding the airport in Coventry.
