Duluth airport gets grant for terminal project

The Duluth Airport Authority has received a $4.7 million grant from the FAA to continue work on a new terminal. It's part of the FAA's commitment to pay one-third of the project's $60 million cost.

This grant will pay for interior systems like heating and plumbing. It was held up for months when Congress failed to pass an FAA funding bill.

Airport operations director Brian Grefe is still waiting on a final FAA grant to complete the terminal. He says if that arrives quickly the facility could open next fall.

"There is no guarantee that money's available right now, so we could potentially get into a situation like we did this summer, where we may have to sit on bids for a while," said Grefe.

Grefe is still waiting for a final $5 million grant from the FAA to finish the terminal's interior. But he's concerned that ongoing disputes in Congress about FAA funding could delay that grant as well and push the terminal's opening into 2013.