Chicago Rockford International Airport secured $8.3 million in federal grants Thursday.
The announcement came yesterday from U.S. Rep. Cheri Bustos and U.S. Sens. Tammy Duckworth and Dick Durbin. The Rockford Register Star reports the grants will go toward two main projects.
The first is adding 30,000 square feet to the airport passenger terminal. The rest of the money will go toward doubling the size of the airport cargo apron, where aircraft are parked. The extra space is intended to compensate for the 40% increase in cargo volume for the first half of the year.
Durbin, Bustos and Duckworth also urged Gov. Bruce Rauner to follow through on a 2014 state pledge of $16.3 million for the airport's jet repair hub, which debuted last year. About $15 million of that pledge, in the form of a state Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity grant, remains unpaid.