City of Marion wants to sell its portion of the Marion Airport

MARION — The City of Marion wants to sell its piece of the Marion Airport, and it’s looking for a buyer.

The city owns the airport's runway and a fixed-base operations building. The rest of the airport belongs to LuxAir Aviation, a private company. The city decided last year it wanted to be out of the runway business by June 30 of this year.

On Friday this week, Marion plans to publish a request for proposals regarding the runway. There are two primary requirements for any proposals: the minimum price must be at least $857,500; and the runway must remain a runway for the airport. It cannot be developed for other uses, said Marion City Manager Ryan Waller.

The city paid $1.67 million to buy the runway in 2015. Waller was named city manager about three years ago.

None of the Marion City Council members commented at a Tuesday meeting after Waller presented the plan.

The council on March 3, will examine and discuss any proposals submitted and may make a recommendation. On March 6, the council will hold a public hearing on the proposal(s), and may take action after the hearing.

Sarah Witter, airport co-owner told The Gazette that LuxAir had anticipated the city's direction and will submit a proposal. She declined to disclose details.

Waller said the city and LuxAir co-owner Jeff Witter have discussed over the past year possibilities for the airport but there has been no agreement.

Marion has many future projects planned and city officials decided the city could not afford to keep the runway and fund future projects, Waller said.

One of those projects is a new aquatic center. The city has agreed to buy a 24-acre site at the southeast corner of 31st Street and Munier Road for the proposed aquatic center. The price for the land is $1 million, but the sale is contingent upon passage of a bond referendum in November that will ask voters if they approve funding the aquatic center and associated amenities, along with redeveloping Willowood Park, site of the city's 40-year-old swimming pool.

The Marion Airport began operations in the 1950s. Jan and Perry Walton managed the airport from 1986 to 1994. The Waltons bought the airport in 1994. Perry Walton, a former Cedar Rapids police officer and helicopter pilot, died in 2012.

The airport supports daily traffic, including air ambulance services, flight training, charters, private business travel, aerial photography and agricultural spraying.

The city established its Airport Layout Plan in 2017 guided by an Airport Advisory Board, made up of mostly private pilots. The plan called for an investment of about $30 million for several projects, including a $9 million east-west runway. The current runway is north-south.

In 2020, the city completed an extension project for the current runway. The project cost $1.8 million, with $424,000 of that funded by an Iowa DOT grant as well as other grants for the design and zoning. The rest of the cost was covered by city bonds.

Proposals for the purchase of the runway and building must be submitted to the Marion City Clerk's Office by 10 a.m. March 3.