MAXTON — The Laurinburg-Maxton Airport broke ground Wednesday on a new $5.2 million terminal to be constructed over the next 12 to 18 months.
“We started designing a terminal (in 2019), then we actually shelved it for a little while, and then we came back to it about a year and a half ago,” said Seth Hatchell, the airport’s executive director. “I’m glad we shelved it because this new design is much more robust, it’s much better than the first design that we had. … It’s going to be a very sharp feature out here in Robeson and Scotland counties.”
The new building will be approximately 8,200 square feet, more than double the 3,500-square-foot layout of the existing terminal. It will be a two-story building, with a vaulted ceiling in the lobby with entrances from both the road and the runway. A mural in the lobby will homage both the former Army air base which was located at the site during World War II, and the Golden Knights who train at the site, as well as “some of our newer aircraft,” Hatchell said. A second-story balcony will wrap around the building and provide a viewing location across the entire airport for families or school groups who want to come observe airport activities.
“Really, it’s a community asset, and we want the community to be able to come out and enjoy it,” Hatchell said.
The terminal will also include office space that may potentially be leased.
“We grew it so we can future-proof it a little bit; it’s larger than our current needs are, but we’re expecting to grow,” Hatchell said. “We’re trying to be as forward thinking as we can without shooting ourselves in the foot.”
The $5.2 million cost will come from a combination of federal, state and local funding. This includes $1 million in Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funds from the FAA, as part of a program to fund various airport terminal projects; $1.125 million from the state’s Department of Aviation to supplement the FAA funding; and other funding sources totaling about $1.2 million, including Airport Improvement Grant funds and non-primary entitlement funds, Hatchell said. The rest of the funding — which currently would appear to be nearly $2 million but is a fluid number based on construction costs and the level of furnishings which are installed as part of the project, will come from the Southeast Regional Airport Authority, the commission which oversees the airport, as well as other local funds, Hatchell said.
“It truly is a federal, state and local project that we’re really excited about,” Hatchell said.
Those various partnerships were displayed during Wednesday’s groundbreaking, with several speakers from the local and state level, including elected officials and representatives of the N.C. Department of Transportation, Scotland County Economic Development and the Southeast Regional Airport Authority.
“Flying over this airport, I always had the big question: what if? What if we utilized it in every way? If we spread the love, and we shared the vision, and we took the opportunity and we made something happen? What if? I’ve always thought about that,” said N.C. Sen. Tom McInnis (R-Moore County). “This is one of the most dynamic, greatest, best industrial opportunity sites in America.”
The airport sits in Scotland County, just west of its border with Robeson County, and is about five miles northwest of Maxton.
“This is a wonderful location,” said Maxton Commissioner Victor Womack, who is also a member of the Southeast Regional Airport Authority. “When you fail to grow, you begin to deteriorate — and since I’ve been out here, this airport, this area has been nothing but growth.”
The terminal is just one of the multiple projects in the works as the airport continues its growth. Projects are also underway to construct 18 T-hangars, which will nearly double the airport’s T-hangar space from its current 20, and also two corporate hangars, meant to attract corporate aviation partners to the airport. The airport also plans to construct new perimeter fencing, and in the long term is considering development on some of the 3,200 acres of land which the airport currently owns.
Those projects will be funded separately from the new terminal, but collectively they show how much the airport is experiencing a period of major growth.
We’ve got a lot going on; we’ve probably got more going on in the next 12 months than maybe the last 80 years out here, so it’s really cool to see and be a part of it,” Hatchell said. It’s really cool to see all this money invested back locally.”
Editor Chris Stiles can be reached at 910-416-5847 or by email at [email protected].