AUBURN — The new terminal building at the Auburn-Lewiston Municipal Airport has been finished since spring, but officials have scheduled a Dec. 13 grand opening to show it off.
Rick Lanman, manager of the airport, said the grand opening is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. with presentation, speeches and tours of the new terminal.
The new terminal more than doubled the size of the airport building, creating room for an expanded Landing Strip Cafe and areas that could be used for passenger air travel.
“Basically, we have provisions for a passenger waiting area, a baggage area with secure storage and a small amount of office space,” he said. “It really is a new era for the airport.”
The new building is also energy efficient, and includes better insulation, windows and heating and air conditioning systems.
“The old building didn’t have a heating system, just a wood-burning stove,” Lanman said.
The 4,500-square-foot expansion cost $925,000, much of it paid with federal grants and matching money from Lewiston and Auburn.
Airport traffic has increased as much as 30 percent in recent years. That growth includes air shipping and delivery service as well as corporate traffic.
The airport logs 500 trips from corporate airplanes each year, bringing in officials from TD Bank, Procter & Gamble and other national companies with Twin Cities branches, as well as companies considering expanding into Central Maine.
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