Branson West targets 2008 for airport completion

The airport site is on Ance Creek Road, 1.7 miles off of Highway 13, near the city’s wastewater treatment plant.

Branson West Administrator Kenneth L. Smith said excavation work, which starts this month, will cost $5.5 million out of a total of $16 million in airport construction costs.

A Federal Aviation Administration grant provides nearly all of the funding.

“Ninety-five percent of the project was covered by federal funds. Land was used for a 5-percent match,” Smith said, adding that Conco Cos. donated 200 acres for the land match.

City officials met with contractor Brauer Excavation Co. of Stockton and engineer Allgeier, Martin & Associates Inc. of Joplin for a preconstruction meeting Sept. 26.

Smith said the excavation work will be completed by November 2007. The 5,000-foot runway will be paved, and construction of the airport facilities should be finished in 2008.

Smith said the second phase, which includes the construction of the terminal, has not been designed.

Smith said the city’s reason for supporting a general aviation airport is to create full-time, year-round jobs.

Branson West’s unemployment rate is as low as 2 percent during the tourism season but as high as 28 percent in the offseason, Smith said.

An engineering study identified that the airport could establish 15 to 20 jobs with its facility alone.

Smith said the city hoped to attract other businesses near the airport as well. He said that during the past few years of planning, companies seeking 30 to 40 employees have indicated an interest in locating adjacent to the proposed airport. Smith said that 500 acres west of the airport will be available for commercial development, and the city is negotiating for property on the east side of the airport for commercial use, too.

“We anticipate other businesses to follow,” he said. “We’re excited about what this will trigger.”