$20 million in projects planned for central Illinois airport

SAVOY, Ill. (AP) - More than $20 million in construction is planned at Willard Airport in central Illinois during the next two years.

The News-Gazette reports that the work includes reconstruction of a runway, an added taxiway and a redone entrance road to the University of Illinois-owned airport in Savoy.

Airport officials also expect a new U.S. Customs and Border Protection facility to be completed and opened early next year.

Airport Executive Director Tim Bannon says that means private international flights can arrive direct, rather than stopping elsewhere to clear customs.

Long term, airport officials hope to secure federal funding to renovate the terminal which was built in 1988 and add an air control traffic tower.

But Bannon says requests for that funding through the Federal Aviation Administration can take time.