The Houston Airport System (HAS) said that it has been awarded a $3.1 million state grant to assist in building a replacement air traffic control tower at Ellington Airport. The final estimated cost of the project is more than $7 million.
The grant will help cover the cost of designing and constructing the new tower, including a utility building, utility yard and parking area, and the purchase and installation of navigational and communication equipment necessary for operation.
The current tower at Ellington was built in the mid-1950s and sustained structural damage in 2008 during Hurricane Ike. City of Houston engineers determined it not cost effective to repair the current tower and, while emergency repairs were made, the existing tower still is vulnerable and cannot likely sustain the impact of future storm force winds, according to HAS.
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