56 GENERAL AVIATION July | August 2026 AirportImprovement.com WWR The city’s engineer of record, HW Lochner, and its team began with a Type A study to define the project scope, costs and priorities and then developed a plan for the $20 million investment. “It’s a little bit different than the capital improvement outlay that we normally work with,” says Project Manager Paul Priegel, A.A.E. “This was truly one of those transformative once-in-a-lifetime or once-in- a-generation projects.” After the study was completed in June 2023, principals from ODAA, Woodward and Lochner ranked the 10 to 12 projects on its list. “Once we did that, we could prioritize which ones we wanted to do full design on and then advertise for bids,” says Ardies. “If you look in the report, there were $40 million worth of needs for this airport,” shares Priegel, who formerly served as director of Stillwater Regional Airport, which is about a 2½-hour drive from WWR. “We drew a line and said, ‘Everything above this line, we think we can get done; and anything below, we want to have it on the list in case we can get favorable prices.’” Given the volatile pricing and supply chain challenges during the post-COVID era, accomplishing everything on the list would be tough. “I feel like we really lucked out in hitting things we said we were going to be able to do,” he reflects. Lochner and subcontractor GHN Architects of Springfield, MO, were already developing a new terminal design when funding was awarded, and that project was then integrated into the larger improvement program. Bidding and Building The project team separated the terminal, hangar, taxilane, utilities and runway extension into individual bid packages to attract more bidders. Many local contractors would not be able to handle the size and scope of the entire program, and few have expertise in all of its necessary components. Ultimately, the same low bidder, W.L. McNatt & Co., won both the terminal and hangar projects. The new south taxilane and utilities projects were awarded separately to Contech Inc. and J.A.M. Construction, respectively, so work could proceed concurrently. Screed Tech was general contractor for the runway and taxiway extension, reconstruction of the fuel island apron and rehabilitation of a portion of Runway 17-35. Visit www.iesalc.org/technology-meetings for more details! Please register and join the largest gathering of dedicated airport lighting professionals including FAA officials, State Aviation officials, consulting engineers, airport maintenance specialists and airfield lighting equipment manufacturers at the 2026 Fall Technology Meeting in Omaha, NE! Golf Tournament | Welcome Reception Technical Papers | Day Show | Banquet OCT 25TH – OCT 29TH 2026 IES Aviation Lighting Committee Technology Meeting PAUL PRIEGEL
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