Tekoa will file for grants to study airport expansion

The town of Tekoa is researching what it would take to expand the town airport, hoping to attract air traffic bound for the Coeur d’Alene casino.

By the end of April, Tekoa officials will turn in an application for a $25,000 planning grant from the state Department of Transportation Aviation office.

If they are awarded the grant, it will kick-start a conversation between the involved parties on the feasibility of expanding the airport, according to Mayor John Jaeger.

“We would sit down with the players and see how it would fit into the overall scheme,” Jaeger said.

In a recent meeting with the Department of Transportation, city officials considered extending the current 2,000 foot runway to 4,000 feet across the state line into Idaho. Tekoa’s Willard Field is located at Tilma with the east end of the airport close to the state line.

With a longer runway, the airport could accommodate bigger airplanes. With that capability, Jaeger said, they are hoping to attract private airplanes destined for the casino.

“I think it’s been a thought for a lot of years. We just thought we might as well find out if the tribe or the casino aren’t interested in this, then we could just put this thing to bed,” Jaeger said.

The town, the Coeur d’Alene Tribe and casino, and the state aviation departments of Washington and Idaho and the Federal Aviation Administration must all be involved in order for the airport expansion to take flight.

Tekoa is approximately 24 miles from the casino, which is located north of Worley on Idaho Highway 95.

With increased air traffic flying to Tekoa, Jaeger reasoned some of that traffic might spend money in Tekoa.

The town is also applying for a $20,000 grant to the state Department of Transportation Aviation office to reconstruct the road leading to the airport.

Both grants are matching grants, with the town expected to pay five percent of the total amount.

The current airport is largely used by crop-dusters and is operated by the town. There are several hangars there as well.