By Alison McFerrin

The Selma Times-Journal

Seven months of construction are about to come to fruition as the Craig Field Airport Terminal Building nears completion.

“It’ll make us look like an airport,” Craig Field Airport Authority executive director Menzo Driskell said. “A lot of people, when they come to Selma, this is the first place they see.”

The $400,000 building is funded by the Craig Airport Authority and the Aeronautics Bureau in the Alabama Department of Transportation.

“What we wanted to do was work with local airports on updating facilities,” Bureau chief Dr. John C. Eagerton said. “Terminal buildings are just not a very high priority for the FAA (Federal Aviation Administration).”

Eagerton said the Bureau has been working with airports like Selma to implement the new terminal designed by Goodwyn, Mills and Cawood engineering firm. The designs have a small, medium and large option — Craig Airport will feature the medium option.

The 3,000 square foot building will comprise about a dozen rooms, including a satellite Dallas County Sheriff’s office, a conference room and the room Driskell said might be most beneficial — the pilot’s lounge.

“They can take a shower, they can go to sleep in the recliner — they’re back here, and the door’s shut, so they can take it easy,” Driskell said, adding the lounge will be especially useful for pilots who are stuck in town while their passengers conduct business.

Eagerton said the new terminal will be a positive addition to Selma.

“It’s a way for the community to make a good first presentation to people coming through Selma,” Eagerton said. “It could also help the airport generate some revenue, because the facilities can be leased.”

While most of the building is complete, Driskell said he thinks they will be ready for an official opening in about a month. Still left are touch-ups as well as furnishing the building.

Groundbreaking for the building took place December 16, 2010, and Eagerton said he is pleased by the rate of construction by Webb Builders.

“This is the second terminal building they’ve bid on and built for us,” Eagerton said. “We feel like they’ve moved this project along very smoothly, very well.”

Driskell said he is also pleased with the building.

“The Craig Airport Authority Board got in behind this — they realized what an asset it would be for our Selma, Dallas County and the community,” Driskell said. “I love the way it looks.”

A future project for Craig Airport will get underway soon. One of the older hangars, Driskell said, needs a new roof.

“We are going to have a pre-construction meeting Wednesday at 10:30 in our office with the contractor and our engineers and the people from Aeronautics,” Driskell said. “It’s a late 1950s hangar … the roof is a really important step with this, because there’s a 1,400 square foot office mezzanine. So if somebody comes in, they could use that.

“It’s really a neat building.”