COOLBAUGH TOWNSHIP -- An airport in the Poconos will undergo major changes this year.
Pocono Mountain Municipal Airport in Coolbaugh Township hopes to start a $4 million expansion project this summer.
New hangars and a new terminal are just some of the changes to come to Pocono Mountain Municipal Airport.
The hope is that the extra space will not only create more room for those who already park their planes there, but also welcome more members to the Poconos.
If you take a look around the inside of a hangar at Pocono Mountain Municipal Airport near Mount Pocono, you'll notice most of the small aircraft sit very close to one another.
The hope is to change that this year with an expansion project.
"It's part of an overall improvement project here at the airport," said airport manager Jim Decker. "Eventually, we will have an additional corporate hangar to the east side of our building here, and we will actually be constructing a new terminal building."
The nearly $4 million project is slated to begin as early as July. Most of the project money is expected to come from state and federal grants.
The added space will not only better serve the airport's existing 39 members, but will also create room for more.
"We will have a package of two 12-unit hangars that will accommodate 24 individual aircraft and that will free up space here, and hopefully, bring in people from outside the area who would like to be here, but we just don't have space for them," Decker said.
The airport isn't just used for corporate and commercial uses. A lot of people on the state level use it, too -- state police, emergency personnel and the like. That's why an expansion will benefit a lot of people.
Coolbaugh Township supervisor Alma Ruiz Smith is one official showing support for the project. She believes the expansion will help with economic development.
"People that are coming in don't have to worry about transporting themselves from the bigger airports to be five minutes away from their facilities. So for Coolbaugh Township, this is a big slam dunk. We are very excited about it."
This phase of the expansion project is expected to be complete by December.
Officials tell us the next phase will include a new fuel dispensing station, and there is talk of adding a restaurant in the future.