Alexander Field secures $2.7 million for terminal upgrades

WISCONSIN RAPIDS, Wis. (WFHR / WIRI) – There will soon be construction happening at the South Wood County Airport in Wisconsin Rapids. Alexander Field secures $2.7 million through an FAA grant for terminal modernization and renovation. Airport Manager Jeremy Sickler speaking with Melissa Kaye on Perspective.

“ There was a grant program through the Federal Aviation Administration that came out after COVID,” explains Sickler. “It was a COVID relief development grant program and we’d just been kind of pursuing it for a couple years now, and we are happy to be, or honored to be the first and the only general aviation airport in the state that secured one of those grants.”

Sand Valley Golf Resort

Sand Valley is a driving factor behind the growth at Alexander Field. Sickler says it’s not just the people flying in to stay and play at the resort. It’s also the more than one thousand people who work there during the peak season. They’re also shopping and eating at restaurants in the area.

“ It’s well known both in Madison and in DC what a huge economic impact Sand Valley has, not just merely in the town of Rome or Adams County, but spreading all throughout the region because those folks are doing a lot of shopping and entertainment, not merely their clients, but also their employees,” says Sickler.

The airport secured federal and state funding in 2016 for infrastructure projects. These funds were largely used to make improvements outside of the terminal. They nearly tripled the size of the apron to allow space for larger jets. Funding also helped with the construction of a 13,200 square foot transient hanger. Since Sand Valley opened in 2017 traffic at the airport has increased. 

“ Both in aircraft activity and our fuel sales, I guess, are the one quantifiable metric that we have to demonstrate growth, and our fuel sales have grown every year,” Sickler said.

The Alexander Terminal is 50 years old

The FAA grant will help make the airport more user friendly with updated technology and operational improvements. There are certain requirements that come with the funding, such as ADA-compliant upgrades.

“ The building itself is in great physical condition,” Sickler says. “It was a very well-built building even fifty years ago, so we have a good structure to build upon. But just cleaning up the way it looks, adding more modern features that folks that come in and they have multiple devices that they need to plug in, but only a handful of outlets around the whole building.” 

Sickler said they hope to leverage this grant to raise additional funding for even more features. The effort is to give the terminal a welcoming atmosphere for both users and the community. They hope to raise another $3.3 million to ensure continued growth and prosperity for the region. The airport estimates $6 million will cover the project goals.

“The one thing that we want, if we get everything we want, we would add a second story, which would be an observation area, a public gathering area,” explains Sickler. “We would need ADA access, so in short, an elevator to go from the basement to the second floor. A lot of like you might say behind the scenes types of things, but then just freshening it up a little bit, giving it a little more modern look.”

Construction will happen in 2027 per the FAA. You can hear the full interview with Jeremy Sickler on Perspective. The show airs on WFHR Monday through Thursday at 9:00 AM at 97.5FM 1320AM.