The Augusta Museum of History is continuing its relationship with the Augusta Regional Airport.
During its meeting Thursday morning, the Augusta Aviation Commission voted to renew its annual curatorial agreement with the museum.
“We have held this agreement with them for the past 11 years,” said assistant director of marketing Lauren Smith to the commissioners, noting the long-establishment arrangement in which the Augusta Museum’s executive director Nancy Glaser and her team come to the airport and “provide the curatorial aspects” of the airport’s Art Program, in which the airport exhibits works by local artists.
This year, as each year Smith noted, Augusta Regional has budgeted $20,000 to renew its contract with the museum, which also includes overseeing installations like the James Brown memorabilia display in the terminal.
MORE: Augusta mayor bill drops, mayor defends methods
The commission approved a professional services agreement with John Wayne Air Calvary, Inc. for $25,000 to provide ancillary services to the airport during Master’s week, managing ramp capacity, issuing clearances and protecting operators who have purchased week long parking permits.
The commission also approved an agreement with Alfred Finishing Company for more than $113,000 for design services to rehabilitate its Long-Term Parking Lot A, which would include asphalt and drainage improvements.
The improvement project aims to prevent flooding on the parking lot, and would entail wetlands delineation, which Giles said would provide insights needed for future expansion of the long-term parking lot.
MORE: Former Parks and Rec assistant director taking action against Augusta government
The lot improvement is considered a landside project, which are funded partly via consolidated facility charges, or CFC, the fees paid to the airport for rental cars. Finance director Riya Bingham confirmed that Augusta Regional has an approximately $9 million balance from CFC’s.
“The estimated budget for what we have programmed for this is going to be around $1.5 million,” said senior construction manager Elizabeth Giles about the parking lot rehabilitation. “But it’s a very needed project.”
Skyler Q. Andrews is a staff reporter covering business for The Augusta Press. Reach him at skyler@theaugustapress.com.
