Sturgis Municipal Airport is looking to expand the space available for hangar construction

STURGIS, S.D. — When you say the word “airport” in the Black Hills, almost everyone thinks of “Rapid City Regional” but there are lots of other airports throughout West River that service non-airline traffic. And the airport in Sturgis is bursting at the seams.

Sturgis City Council approved a $345,000 contract with helms and associated to construct a new taxiway at the Sturgis Municipal Airport. The new taxiway  will allow the airport to use more of its land for new hangar space.

Dave Smith, Director of Planning and Permitting for Sturgis said, “Right now, we have no more room for any airplanes out there. We are bursting at the seams and we still have people who want to relocate their aircraft to our airport. So we have to construct a taxi lane to open up more space to construct more hangars.”

By adding this taxiway the Sturgis Municipal Airport will have the room for six to eight more hangars which will result in additional revenue for the city of Sturgis.

“By ground leases, fuel sales and general sales tax for the businesses that are operating at our airport,” said Smith.

The next step is to do a historical survey to make sure there is no construction being done to any part of land with historical significance that the taxiway or hangars might be located on.

Smith also said, “We’re hoping to have the taxi lane done as soon as possible by summer at least of this year.”