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GENERAL AVIATION  
May | June 2026      AirportImprovement.com
5B2
were landside, affecting public access to the airport and involving 
measures to avoid disturbing the butterfly habitat.
The project was designed and permitted as one package, but 
went to construction as three separate contracts: demolition of the 
existing hangar; construction of the new hangar and terminal, plus 
sitework for the entrance driveway; and the apron rehabilitation. 
Work commenced in mid-October 2023, when Murnane Building 
Contractors began demolishing the more than 50-year-old hangar 
located in the center of the airfield. Because it housed an antenna 
that communicates with the air traffic control tower at Albany 
International Airport, the project team coordinated with the FAA 
to relocate the antenna and construct a shelter for its equipment. 
The hangar also carried power for the airfield’s Automated Weather 
Observing System, which had to be repowered. 
After demolition was complete in December 
2023, LeChase Construction Services promptly 
began excavation for the new terminal’s 
concrete foundation in mid-January 2024, amid 
warmer-than-usual winter temperatures for 
upstate New York. They also benefited from 
a lack of rock and clay in the local soil. “The 
airport’s beautiful sand allowed us to work well in 
the wintertime as it drained well and there wasn’t 
water collecting everywhere,” Project Executive Tim Hanke recalls.  
Hawk Drilling Company drilled 24 wells, each 450 feet deep, 
for the geothermal system under the apron in front of the hangar. 
LeChase excavated a 20-foot pit for the 30,000-gallon fire 
suppression system water tank and dug even deeper to place pump 
vaults for the fire suppression pumps. “All of that is under the hangar 
slab so that was a heavily coordinated effort,” says Hanke. 
To prevent excavated soil from posing foreign object debris damage 
to aircraft, it was stockpiled about one-half mile to the south.
Construction of the new termina/hangar building lasted from 
mid-January 2024 to mid-July 2025. “From the time of bid, we 
basically had 18 months to get this constructed,” says Hanke.
While LeChase finished its contract, Callanan Industries began the 
apron rehabilitation, which stretched from the new hangar out to 
the ramp. That work occurred September 2024 to April 2025. 
Local and Personal 
Incorporating local design elements and building materials helped 
the airport tie its project to the local community. The terminal design 
draws on Victorian architecture prevalent throughout Saratoga 
County, with slate siding sourced from Vermont, and Adirondak-
style elements such as a lean-to roofline over the outside patio. 
In addition, the project team was stacked with locals. Hanke 
lives minutes from the airport and is active in a glider club based 
there. Kelsey, Bradford and Saratoga County Commissioner of 
For eight decades, McFarland 
Johnson has partnered with 
airports nationwide to deliver 
planning, design, and engineering 
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aviation.
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