A CLEAR SKY and a warm day provides an attractive setting at the New Ulm Municipal Airport. Standing alongside an Air New Ulm plane are (from left) Kathy Berg, Roger Krause and Cletus Fuenffinger. Air New Ulm enjoyed a productive year during 1974. (Photo by Ron Grieser)

Construction of a new or expanded city airport costing $3 to $5 million could be in New Ulm’s future as soon as 1976 if the city council gives the go ahead this year.

Local cost for the project is put at $300,000 to $500,000, depending on how much of the total project is done right away. State and federal grants would pay the balance.

THE PROJECT depends on council approval of a master plan concept. Consulting engineers have spent the past two years on this but the city council hasn’t decided whether the airport should expand at its present site or move to a new location.

Once the council decides this, engineers can prepare the master plan, which is a requirement for federal grant applications. The master plan would detail the layout of the runways and zoning restrictions.

After the master plan is completed the matter will return to the city council for authorization to apply for federal and state grants for a specific project within the master plan layout.

If the council okays a master plan concept soon, construction could be undertaken by 1976, according to City Manager Richard Salvati.

A NEW OR expanded airport is called necessary by Roger Krause, airport manager, who has said the present 2,900-foot paved runway is too short even for current needs.

Proposals call for a 4,200-foot paved runway, with later expansion to 5,500 feet if warranted.

Krause said at a council hearing in November 1974 that many planes, including his Air New Ulm planes, sometimes have to take a lighter load for safety’s sake because of the short paved runway. There is no sacrifice on safety but it does add to the cost of operation, he said.

Feelings were mixed at that hearing on whether the airport should be relocated or expanded at its present site. Some extolled the convenience of the present site while others favored a move to free the present site for future city growth.

Krause suggested that 500 feet of paved runway be added immediately as a stopgap measure until the new runways were done, but others noted this would have to be done entirely at city expense and would not take care of long-term needs.

CITY MANAGER Richard Salvati believes an adequate airport “is a necessary facility in a community that’s going to remain economically competitive with other communities.”

He noted the present airport, like all public facilities, has had a general value to the town at large, as well as the specific benefit of providing a place for planes to land.

The availability of the airport, for example, he said, led to the growth of New Ulm Flight Service, which in turn enhanced the 3M plants here by making operations more efficient (speeding transfer of personnel between St. Paul and New Ulm). This in turn has benefited the community since 3M provides 1,150 jobs here.

“Even though someone may never fly and may work for an industry which never uses the airport,” Salvati said, “there is some corollary benefit the community as a whole receives.”

New Ulm Daily Journal

Feb. 21, 1975