Kevin Price/Times-EnterpriseCairo City Manager Chris Addleton said the terminal at the Cairo-Grady County Airport has many deficiencies.

CAIRO — A new airport terminal will be built at the Cairo-Grady County Airport.

The Cairo City Council approved spending $125,000 toward the estimated $500,000 cost of tearing down the existing building and building a new one. The city likely will use transportation special purpose local option sales tax funds to pay its share.

The Georgia Department of Transportation will allocate the remaining $375,000. The state required the city to match up to $125,000 in order to receive the allocation.

The airport is located off Airport Road, just north of US Highway 84.

According to city manager Chris Addleton, the current terminal is an old bank building that became the terminal in the 1990s.

“It has long since served its useful purpose and has many deficiencies, including a leaky flat roof, a crumbling exterior and no handicap accessibility,” Addleton wrote in his proposal to the city council and mayor.

“… The airport terminal serves as one of our gateways to Cairo and a new terminal is needed to potentially enhance our economic development status.”

There have been more than 500 landings and takeoffs from the airport through the first six months of 2021.

The GDOT sent Mayor Howard Thrower III a later dated June 10 informing him that the state would allocate $375,000 to the city to construct a terminal building at the Cairo-Grady County Airport.

The city has until July 12 that it will proceed with the project during the state’s fiscal year 2022, which runs through June 30, 2022.

According to the GDOT letter, the department has scheduled the project to be ready for February 2022. If the city fails to meet that deadline, the state could move the project to FY 2023.

Kevin Price can be reached at 229-226-2400, ext. 1820