The Wiscasset Municipal Airport will soon be a little smoother and brighter for pilots visiting the airport thanks to a pair of federal grants.

Construction to repave the airport’s only runway and upgrade the airport’s lighting system is expected to begin in the second week of September, according to Wiscasset Municipal Airport Manager Rick Tetrev. The project is expected to take about six weeks to complete.

The repaving and the new lighting are fully funded by two grants from the Federal Aviation Administration totaling about $3.3 million, said Tetrev.

Located about four miles south of downtown Wiscasset, the Wiscasset Airport is owned by the town and caters to mostly small, private planes used by recreational and business flyers. The airport can also accommodate medical evacuation flights.

The original runway at the Wiscasset airport was built in 1961, shortly after the town purchased the land in 1957. At the time, it was only 2,800 feet long, but it was later lengthened to 3,400 feet in 1968, according to town records.

Tetrev said he believes this will be the first time the runway has been repaved from end to end. The most recent work on the runway was six years ago.

“We had cracks to fill, but that’s all that’s been done,” said Tetrev. “Other than that, I don’t remember any other work on the runway in my tenure.”

Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, chair of the Transportation Appropriations Subcommittee, announced the $3 million grant to repave the runway, part of a larger federal award from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Airport Improvement Program, last year. Wiscasset is one of five Maine airports to receive the funding.

The Portland International Jetport received the next largest award of $2.2 million to rehabilitate the taxiway. The Augusta State Airport was given $300,000 to update the airport’s master plan, the Hancock County-Bar Harbor Airport received $190,406 to rehabilitate the airport apron and the Bethel Regional Airport received $75,000 to remove obstructions from the property.

The other $216,666 grant will pay to install LED lights along the runway to guide pilots. The lighting system which will replace the weaker incandescent lights now in operation. LED lights will also be installed to mark any signs or obstructions.

Tetrev said he’s “anxious” for construction to begin because the airport has needed it for the past several years. He said he hopes having the runway replaced and a new lighting system will draw business and “set us on a path for a good 20 years.”

Earlier project plans projected the work would take place over the summer, but Tetrev said he’s glad it will immobilize the project in the fall instead, as the airport has seen steady traffic over the past few months, though it’s not up to pre-pandemic levels.

The airport generates the majority of its revenue from leasing its 35 airplane hangars and selling jet fuel, Tetrev said.

“In the summer we averaged about 1,000 flights per month,” said Tetrev.

Last month the airport sold 3,791 gallons of fuel and saw 323 flights, the most so far this year, according to Tetrev. The month before, 325 flights came through the airport. So far this month, the airport has seen 218 flights.

Aside from the runway and visibility rehabilitation, the land around the airport will also be home to a future 20-acre solar farm project, which residents approved earlier this summer.

The array, made from roughly 12,480 solar panels, will sit between the airport’s runway and Chewonki Creek. Each panel is 7.5-feet by 3.5-feet each, according to Chad Chabazi, vice president of project development for Cenergy Power, the parent company for the project.

The panels are expected to generate 5 megawatts of solar power each year, which would be available for local Central Maine Power customers to purchase. Once completed, the project is expected to be capable of powering 650-800 homes for a year, Chabazi told The Times Record in June. Construction on the project is expected to begin sometime this fall.