Northwood Airport Secures Funding for New Terminal, Advancing 20-Year Development Plan

Nov. 1—NORTHWOOD, N.D. — Northwood Municipal Airport- Vince Field is moving forward on its 20-year plan, with the next step — a new general aviation terminal building — at hand following funding from the Federal Aviation Administration.

The upcoming project, paired with those finished in recent years, is the start of preparing the airport for the future, Airport Manager Rich Altendorf said.

"This is just the beginning of it," he said.

The FAA recently doled out grants for terminal expansion projects. Northwood received $950,000 for an approximately 650-square-foot general aviation terminal building to meet Americans with Disabilities Act requirements. Fargo's airport also received funding.

The announcement of the funding came from Sen. John Hoeven's office. Hoeven, R- N.D., said in the release that both projects will ensure state residents can fly safely and efficiently.

"The Fargo-Moorhead and Northwood regions are rapidly growing, both in terms of population and in economic activity," Hoeven said. "That means greater demand for air service and the need for updates and added facilities at Hector International and Northwood airports."

Altendorf said he's seen air traffic pick up throughout the state, and North Dakota is starting to come around on spending more money on airports. Other small, rural airports have had projects going on recently, he said.

"We keep the engineers and contractors busy somewhere in the state," he said.

People moving close to Grand Forks Air Force Base and wanting to have airplanes and places to store them has probably been a contributing factor, Altendorf said, as well as people wanting to fly outside of the Grand Forks air space due to the region's high volume of student aviation traffic. Areas like Crookston, Grafton, Northwood and Hillsboro are prime candidates for expansion, he said.

Northwood's recent projects, within the past six to 10 years, include a ramp expansion for additional aircraft parking, runway reconstruction with added lighting and a precision aircraft position indicator system. Other projects in discussions include an office, hangar and fueling facilities. The new terminal building doesn't have a set project timeline, as the airport just received the funding, but a meeting has been scheduled for early November to discuss the project, Altendorf said.

Having a project plan in place and seeing it begin to roll out has been great, he said, and it will prepare Northwood for the future.

"We have to have a plan for the future," he said. "We'll be pretty well set for a long time."

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