Garfield County has begun a $1.2 million upgrade at Bryce Canyon Airport to deal with a tenfold increase in air traffic, daily scheduled commercial flights and aircraft parked in the sagebrush.
The upgrade includes the terminal, taxiway, parking lots for planes and automobiles and an access road.Although the county-owned airport is some distance from the nearest community, it is not far from the north entrance to Bryce Canyon National Park. Visitors to the park account for most of its use.
Commissioner Tom Hatch said some 7,000 passengers arrived and departed on commercial aircraft last year. Yet the airport's condition has been improved only a little over the years and little money has been spent on it.
The new terminal building, which will replace the present one-room facility, will better accommodate commercial and private aviation and offer weather reporting services.
The new building will be of rustic log architecture to blend in with other nearby facilities.
County commissioners obtained $500,000 from the state and $600,000 from the Federal Aviation Administration for the project.
A grant of $250,000 and a loan in the same amount was approved by the Utah Community Impact Board. Garfield County will pay back the 2.5 percent low-interest loan over 20 years with revenue from a 1 percent restaurant tax that was recently approved by the county commission.
The state money will be used primarily for terminal expansion, while the federal funding will be spent for aircraft parking area and taxiway improvements.