The Texarkana Regional Airport Authority Board's finance committee recommended the full board consider contracting grant writing and lobbying services aimed at getting grant funds from the Texas Legislature.
Committee members green-lighted their recommendation late last week, allowing the board to to look at getting state-grant funding that will help build a new passenger terminal at the airport.
Board members noted they might obtain airport finance through the Texas State Legislature as soon as this year's session.
Besides helping to finance the proposed new 38,000-square-foot, $37 million terminal, this potential grant-funding could also be used for other of the airport's capital projects.
In addition to serving three daily commercial flights to Dallas, the airport is used by the Red River Army Depot.
Texas State District 1 Rep. Gary VanDeaver (R- New Boston) said Friday that he would certainly support efforts the airport could make in reaching out to Texas for terminal construction funding.
"I would be glad to work with a grant writer to try to identify and secure state grant funding resources that can be found and accessed," he said. "An airport passenger terminal often leaves the first impression that air travelers get when they fly into town-as well as the last impression when they leave."
Besides the depot, C-130 Hercules military cargo planes fly down from Little Rock during military-flight training exercises use the airport as a landing strip.
All the proposed new terminal's design work should be completed by August, which will enable airport officials to deliver final financial estimates to the Federal Aviation Administration. Then the FAA will be able to issue construction grant funding for the project.
Airport Director Mark Mellinger said last week that terminal construction could start in 2020 and be completed within five years. The first two years would be devoted to building the project's exterior, followed by two more years of interior work before adding the jet bridges in one more year. He added that an effort will be made to have the terminal finished in sooner than five years.