Fitchburg Municipal Airport will mark the official opening of its new $4 million-plus administration building next month at the same time it continues a multi-year tree-clearing project.
The city-owned airport, which sits between downtown and Route 2 at the Leominster line, plans to begin clearing trees from beyond the south end of its main runway starting next month, with hopes of completing the work before winter, Airport Director Scott Ellis said. The area beyond the north end of the runway was completed last year.
Both areas include eliminating trees from private adjacent properties.
The final phase of the project is an expansion of the runway from 4,510 feet today to 5,000 feet. That work, scheduled to start in 2019, will make the runway more attractive to businesses that like to have more distance as a precaution, Ellis said.
“That’s the real distance that the corporate flight departments like to have,” he said. “Once we get that 5,000, we’re going to be looking at a lot more corporate traffic.”
A majority of Fitchburg Municipal Airport’s traffic is considered general aviation, such as recreational pilots.
The airport has received about $5 million in funding from the Federal Aviation Administration since 2009, including $1.1 million received in July for tree-clearing. The FAA has covered 90 percent of the multi-year project’s costs, with the remainder split by the state and the city of Fitchburg, Ellis said.
The new administration building, which opened last December, was funded by the state. A ribbon-cutting ceremony is scheduled for Oct. 5.
