The V.I. Port Authority has received a $13.3 million grant from the U.S. Transportation Department to repair and rehabilitate the runway at St. Thomas’ Cyril E. King Airport, Gov. John deJongh Jr. announced Wednesday.
The project is expected to create about 250 new construction and construction-related jobs over the next year, he added in a press release.
"This is excellent news for the V.I. Port Authority, our tourism-based economy, which is so dependent on efficient and modern air transportation, and our local construction industry, which has suffered from the continuing national recession,” deJongh said.
Along with fixing the cracking runway, grant funds will also be used to repair the runway lighting system. The project will be the first major rehab the runway has seen since the airport was completed more than two decades ago, according to VIPA Executive Director Kenn Hobson.
“I am thrilled that we won this competitive grant,” he added in a statement Wednesday. “My staff has worked long and hard to produce the application which resulted in this award. The quick approval by DOT is testament to the quality of our work product.”
This is also the first competitive grant the territory has been awarded in the past seven years, he added, saying that the application was submitted just about three weeks ago. The Federal Aviation Administration had previously barred the territory from receiving any airport discretionary funds until the deJongh administration reached an agreement last year to close the Anguilla Landfill next to St. Croix’s Henry E. Rohlsen Airport, Hobson explained in the statement.
