Gary/Chicago International Airport secures final $8.3M federal grant to complete $18.3M new control tower funding

Gary/Chicago International Airport (GCIA) has received an $8.3 million federal grant, officials announced Thursday, completing the full $18.3 million in federal funding needed to construct a new air traffic control tower. The award comes from the U.S. Department of Transportation's Airport Improvement Program and represents the final funding component for the project. In May, the Federal Aviation Administration had awarded a separate $10 million grant toward the same tower.

In June, the airport authority awarded a $16 million construction contract to Larson-Danielson Construction of LaPorte, Indiana. Construction is expected to begin soon, employing approximately 120 skilled trade workers over an estimated 24,000 construction hours, with completion anticipated by late 2027. The new tower will be located near the existing structure, which has been in operation since 1972 and is described by officials as increasingly obsolete and inefficient. The new tower will stand about 50 feet taller than the current one and will feature modern technologies intended to improve visibility, communications, operational efficiency, and safety.

GCIA Executive Director Dan Vicari said the $8.3 million grant "represents the successful completion of a process that began several years ago," noting that replacing the existing tower has been a key priority over the past decade. The multi-year funding effort began in 2022. U.S. Rep. Frank J. Mrvan (D-Highland) was credited by Vicari for his support throughout the grant process, and Mrvan said the investment would "attract new economic activity to the City of Gary and our region."

Tower replacement projects at regional airports typically move through separate funding and construction tracks rather than a single approval, which is why this project needed grants from two different points in the Airport Improvement Program pipeline before a contractor could be engaged. The gap between the 2022 start of the funding effort and the 2027 target completion illustrates how long these infrastructure cycles run once federal, congressional and construction elements all have to line up.

For the region, the immediate marker to watch is the construction start date and whether the 120-worker, 24,000-hour build stays on the schedule needed to hit the late-2027 completion target. The next disclosures worth tracking are any updates from Larson-Danielson on construction milestones and confirmation from GCIA or the FAA on when the new, taller tower becomes operational relative to the 1972 structure it replaces.