Funding is locked in for the next round of additions and improvements at Cullman Regional Airport, thanks to the securing of a $2 million local loan to pay for a new structure and other upgrades.

At its regular meeting Monday, the Cullman City Council approved the borrowing of $2 million from Cullman-based Peoples Bank of Alabama, which in addition to other capital acquisitions will fund construction of a 100’ x 100’ corporate hangar at Folsom Field. The money will also be used to purchase a pair of properties that abut the airport’s current property footprint.

Bidding on the new hangar was completed earlier this year, with the construction project awarded to Albertville-based Complete Construction, LLC at a cost of $1,150,304. Cullman mayor Woody Jacobs said the overall loan will be repaid over a 10-year term.

Overseen by a board that’s jointly appointed by both city and county government, the financing project also required the approval of the Cullman County Commission, which the commission approved by a vote at its March regular meeting. The commission also approved a separate service agreement for a planned maintenance project to extend the operational life of the airport’s tarmac.

The new work comes following the completion of what’s likely the largest single overhaul in the airport’s six-decade history, with a complete resurfacing of the facility’s 100-foot wide, 5,500-foot long runway being finished last year. Airport manager Ben Harrison told the council earlier this month that the new runway is just part of the airport’s long-term capital improvement plan, which calls for both additional new construction as well as ongoing maintenance and rehabilitation of existing amenities.