Gary residents who want to see the city’s airport flourish got more good news last week when the airport broke ground on a new air traffic control tower.
The new tower at Gary/Chicago International Airport will modernize communications and improve safety for air traffic controllers and pilots. It is also slated to create 120 new construction jobs.
“The new air traffic control tower will provide the modern infrastructure needed to support future aviation growth, enhance safety and operational efficiency, and ensure GCIA remains a key economic engine for Northwest Indiana and the Chicago region for decades to come,” said Dan Vicari, the airport’s executive director.
The new air control tower is the latest in a series of efforts to renovate and expand the airport. The airport now mostly provides cargo service. In recent months, it has been the backdrop for the deportation flights of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, prompting local outrage and protests last fall.
The airport renovations have led some to speculate that the airport will soon offer passenger service. Commercial passenger service at the airport ended in August 2013. Today, passenger service is limited to private, corporate, and charter flights.
Resuming commercial service is part of the city’s and airport’s future development plans. But authorities have given no indication when that might happen.
Originally designed in 1972, the old tower no longer meets the needs of a modern airport. At 105 feet tall, the new tower will be more than double the size of the current tower and will include an elevator, which the current tower does not have.
The $18.3 million project is scheduled for completion by late 2027.
“This $18.3 million investment in a state-of-the-art Air Traffic Control Tower not only brings 120 skilled-trade jobs to our community during construction, but it ensures that GCIA is positioned to capture future aviation and cargo growth,” Gary Mayor Eddie Melton said.
The Federal Aviation Administration is funding the tower project.
The Gary airport opened in 1954 as a commercial airport and aircraft repair facility, and has become an economic driver for the region.
In 2015, the runway was expanded to nearly 9,000 feet. It’s now the second-longest in the region, trailing only Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport. In 2018, the Gary airport opened its U.S. Customs and Border Protection facility, and by 2020, it began cargo operations with UPS, which has developed into a multi-decade contract. In recent years, it’s welcomed more corporate hangars, acquired the Griffith-Merrillville Airport, and has been expanded further.
Earlier this year, the airport completed its 55-acre Air Cargo Campus, which can accommodate up to 80 wide-body cargo aircraft simultaneously, and the construction of a new cargo and general aviation ramp.
All are seen as significant development opportunities to bring jobs and growth to the Gary community.
“Together, we are building a stronger, more connected Gary,” Melton said.
