Osceola To Apply For FAA Grant For Airport

A new airport may very well help planes land in Osceola as well as helping the Mississippi County town land industry, the town’s mayor said Tuesday.

The Osceola City Council voted Monday night to apply for a Federal Aviation Administration engineer planning grant for the proposed airport, Mayor Dickie Kennemore said.

Kennemore first announced plans in July to build the airport. While the project is in its preliminary stages, Kennemore said the airport will have a 5,000 to 6,000-foot runway and will be able to meet the needs of businesses interested in locating in Osceola.

The city’s current airport, with a 3,800-foot runway, is on Arkansas 140 heading into town.

While not discussing specifics on economic development projects, Kennemore said the city has been inundated with requests about a larger runway.

“There are so much requests,” Kennemore said. “Last week, we had someone who could not get in. They had to fly to Memphis and then drive up.”

There has been a lot of economic activity in the Mississippi County town in the past two years. Construction has already begun at environmental recycling company Blue Oak Arkansas, while ground will be broken Monday for the Big River Steel project.

While the site for the airport has not been selected, there are several locations along U.S. 61 and Arkansas 140 that have been considered.

Kennemore said the project may take five to six years to complete, with federal, state and local aviation officials working on the project.

The first part of the project will likely take several months.

The city will begin advertising in October to accept proposals from engineers on the project. From there, the engineer will be selected by November with design work starting near the first of the year.