More than 40 mph wind gusts blew across Kiowa County on Thursday, April 25, 2019 but that didnt stop the Greensburg from marking an historic day for rural western Kansas. City and state leaders cut a ribbon for the Grand Opening of the Greensburg Municipal Airport despite that fact that the wind did stop three different airplanes from flying in to the new airport as part of the planned ceremony.
According to a feasibility study done by KDOT Aviation, an airport in the Greensburg area is needed to serve Kiowa County’s almost 3,000 residents. The local economies and small businesses of Greensburg, Haviland, and Mullinville are projected to benefit from nearly $425,000 in projected economic output each year by the airport, once in operation. A project like this will assist in crop dusting, and the city has already been contacted by hunters from out-of-state wanting to know if it was true that the city was opening an airport.
“In a small community and the surrounding areas like Greensburg $425,000 is huge,” Mayor Matt Christenson said.
KDOT Aviation provided five separate grants to fund 90-95 percent of all phases of this project, with the grants awarded totaling more than $2 million. With even better news for the city’s budget, the completed project came in under budget with the actual costs just over $1.75M.
(Read more: News – PrattTribune – Pratt, KS)