NICK GOSNELL
Hutch Post
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Pieter Miller with the Hutchinson Airport told Hutch Post Tuesday they are going to apply again for federal dollars to get the air traffic control tower replaced.
"There was money specifically set aside to update federal contract control towers," Miller said. "Towers that were built by the federal government back in the 1950s and the 1960s that are staffed by private companies, which is exactly what Hutchinson has."
The current tower was built in 1951. This would be the second application for that money. Their first try was to do the project in phases, but they noted that the ones approved in the first round were full projects, so they are going to try that approach when they apply again. That application is due by the end of October. The internal workings in the tower are updated by the contractor and the FAA, but the actual bricks and mortar are city property.
"Most of the buttons and switches and radios in the tower now have been updated over the last 10 years," Miller said. "What is old is the actual facility itself. The stairways, the access, the break rooms, the restrooms, all the accoutrements that the controllers use to get their job done."
The tower has been staffed by a private contractor since 1992.
"They are in operation from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m., seven days a week, 365 days a year," Miller said. "A couple of the controllers live in Wichita. Most of them are local controllers here, or retired FAA controllers. The company they work for is called Midwest ATC."
Midwest ATC is currently operating nearly 100 air traffic control towers globally. In addition to Hutchinson, they operate towers in Garden City, Salina, Manhattan, both airports in Topeka and the Johnson County Aircenter and New Century Airport in the Kansas City area.