Dubuque Regional Airport gets $1.9 million FAA grant for terminal

The Federal Aviation Administration has awarded a $1.9 million grant to the Dubuque Regional Airport as part of the funding for a new $39 million passenger terminal.

Airport directors broke ground in October for the project, which will be completed by December 2016.

The FAA is paying $33.7 million of the total cost for the new terminal, furnishings and related construction. The Iowa Department of Transportation is paying $1,049,298 from the agency's Commercial Air Service Vertical Infrastructure Grant Program.

The remaining $5.2 million will come from local funding, primarily from passenger facility charges paid by travelers using the airport, customer facility charges paid by car rental customers and a small amount from the city of Dubuque.

The terminal project includes a new access road from U.S> Highway 61 with a "prairie style" building that will incorporate  local elements like natural limestone.The existing passenger terminal opened in 1947. About  70,000 passengers use the airport each year.