Osceola Looks To Build New Airport, Big River Steel Starts Construction
by July 24, 2014 3:42 pm 153 views
A chance to meet the demands of growing industry may very well help the city of Osceola land new industry as well as planes at a new airport, the town’s mayor said Thursday.
Dickie Kennemore spoke to Osceola Kiwanis Club members about the project, which is still in the preliminary stages.
The city is working with a North Little Rock-based engineering company, Garver Engineering, to help draw up a master plan for the project.
The project is expected to cost around $10 million, will have a 10,000-foot runway and possibly a fixed base operation with other amenities.
Kennemore said there are at least four sites along U.S. 61 and Arkansas 140 that could be under consideration for the new airport. The city currently has an airport on Arkansas 140, with that airport having a 3,800-foot runway.
Larger corporate and business jets cannot land at the current airport, with most planes having to land in Blytheville, Memphis or West Memphis, officials have said.
In the past year or so, there have been at least three major companies that have announced plans to locate in Osceola.
Big River Steel announced in early 2013 that it would build a $1.3 billion steel mill south of town while Blue Oak Arkansas, an environmental recycling company, announced earlier this year a plan to build a facility.
Also, Indigo, an oil and gas company, announced plans to build a terminal along the Mississippi River.
Both Big River Steel and Blue Oak Arkansas began moving dirt Wednesday (July 23) as part of the construction projects.
Kennemore said city officials would be working with the city’s Airport Commission, the Federal Aviation Administration and the Arkansas Aeronautics Commission on the project.
“It is another industrial recruitment tool,” Kennemore said. “If you do not have one, it makes it tougher to land a large business.”