FAA shutdown could delay construction at Duluth airport

The partial shutdown of the Federal Aviation Administration could delay construction of a new terminal at the Duluth airport by a year.

Construction workers are framing in the front of the new Duluth International Airport terminal. The $65 million project has glass walls and a curved roof designed to resemble Lake Superior's waves. It's on schedule to open late next summer. But that could get pushed back to the spring of 2013 if the FAA doesn't come through in the next month with $10 million it owes for construction.

The FAA is contributing a total of roughly 20 million dollars to the project. Remaining funding comes from the TSA and state and local governments.

"We're moving ahead. Everything we have under contract right now and under grant we can keep moving on." said Brian Grefe, operations director at the Duluth airport.

"The challenging part, is we're in a position right now where we can award other contracts, and we really need to award other contracts without slowing the overall project timeline down."

Grefe hopes the new 65 million dollar Duluth terminal will open late next summer.

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