Plans for a new Indiana National Guard facility at Columbus Municipal Airport are progressing.
The Columbus Board of Aviation Commissioners has approved a lease for the guard’s existing Columbus armory, as well as some additional property. According to Airport Director Brian Payne, this includes land immediately to the west of the armory up to the airport fence.
The armory is located on airport property at 2160 Arnold St. Indiana National Guard Spokesman Master Sgt. Jeff Lowry said in October that the plan is to build an equipment repair shop on armory land “with a small alteration.”
The approximately $6 million project is scheduled for federal fiscal year 2024 and is part of a 20-year modernization plan to improve facilities around the state.
According to Payne, the lease was discussed at a previous board meeting in November but was tabled so that the there could be further discussion with the Indiana National Guard regarding the project’s location. This has since occurred, with airport officials suggesting that the development be located on the airport’s west apron, which is near the guard’s parachute rigging unit, rather than near the armory.
However, Payne said that airport officials have found that their concerns about the armory location are not as significant as previously thought, and the national guard continues to prefer this site.
“They very much feel that the armory location is the location that would be best for them,” said Payne. “They have money allocated on the federal side for a new parachute rigging unit to be built in that location, as well as going to the state for state funding on improvements of the armory itself, both exterior and interior as well as some parking and additional structures around that area.”
He said once the new parachute rigging unit is built, the guard will no longer have to lease a hangar on the airport’s west side for parachute rigging.
In discussing the location of the guard’s project, Commissioner Doug Van Klompenburg expressed some concern that it could lead to future costs for the airport.
“If they (the guard) were to continue in a larger fashion, we had a discussion about the possibility of building an apron outside of that fence directly for them,” said Payne.
However, he believes that the guard should be able to continue using the existing south apron as is for now.
The initial term of the airport’s lease with the Indiana National Guard for the armory and nearby land is 20 years, with three options to renew the lease for an additional 10 years each. The rent is $0. Payne said that this is due to a stipulation from the original agreement when the city acquired the airport, which was previously a military base.
“Part of our quitclaim deed does state that the military, for any reason, in the future shall have access to any parcels of ground that they so choose at $0,” said Payne.
