Pre-construction site work has begun on the new fire station at the Fort Smith Regional Airport. Turn Key Construction Management of Fort Smith received a building permit for the $3 million-plus job on Oct. 2, having been awarded the project in June after submitting the lowest of six qualified bids.
Pending weather and other possible setbacks, the new three-bay airport fire station has a completion date set for October 2018, according to Ron Burnett, job superintendent at Turn Key.
MAHG Architecture of Fort Smith designed the new fire station large enough to accommodate the airport’s new aircraft fire and rescue fire truck. The new truck and two other restored aircraft fire rescue trucks were acquired following a change in mission in 2014 for the local Arkansas Air National Guard to a remotely piloted aircraft unit.
The airport and the Arkansas Air National Guard unit formerly had a joint-use agreement that called for aircraft fire protection from the 188th Fighter Wing in exchange for use of 140 acres at the airport for Ebbing Air National Guard Base. A token $1 a year was part of the deal. A new joint-use agreement has been in the works.