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FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) \u2014 Employees in Fresno\u2019s air traffic control tower say upgrades to the building are long overdue, as the current building doesn\u2019t meet modern standards.<\/p>\n
With the city\u2019s approval of the environmental review, Fresno is now closer than ever to building a brand-new tower.<\/p>\n
Built in 1962, Fresno\u2019s air traffic control tower has never undergone major renovations. However, it could be demolished after being rebuilt at a new location.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt has definitely exceeded a life cycle. It\u2019s almost impossible at this point to fit a 2020s need of infrastructure technology into a 1960s building,\u201d says Francisco Partida, Fresno Yosemite International Airport Interim Director of Aviation.<\/p>\n
According to the Department of Transportation, the average useful life of an air traffic control tower is 25 to 30 years, Fresno\u2019s tower is over 60.<\/p>\n
Air traffic controllers tell Action News the building is in desperate need of upgrades.<\/p>\n
For months, they went without a working elevator, forced to climb seven flights of stairs to do their job.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen it\u2019s hot, it\u2019s really hard to cool down. When it\u2019s cold, it\u2019s really hard to warm up. And the elevator is a 1960s elevator; parts are no longer made or produced or kept in storage in inventory,\u201d says Partida.<\/p>\n
The new tower will include new equipment, and the proposed location is not far from the current site on East Anderson Avenue. It will be located on a grass patch and adjacent parking lot.<\/p>\n
The project has been in the works for more than two years. Now, with the environmental review approved, it\u2019s closer than ever to becoming a reality.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe know that we own the building, we know it\u2019s from the 1960s. This is not a new effort. The city has tried, in early 2000s they started the process. What does it take to get a new tower for Fresno?\u201d says Partida.<\/p>\n
The project is estimated to cost nearly $ 100 million, and the city still needs to secure federal funding to begin construction.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe need our federal partner to also commit. That they will participate in the funding strategy,\u201d says Partida.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are really excited for this project to continue advancing through the phases and become a reality,\u201d says Partida.<\/p>\n
The city has until January 15th to apply for a grant through the Federal Transportation Agency. If approved, they\u2019ll move forward with design and then construction.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) \u2014 Employees in Fresno\u2019s air traffic control tower say upgrades to the building are long…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":102992,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[112,114,113],"class_list":{"0":"post-102991","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-fresno","8":"tag-fresno","9":"tag-fresno-headlines","10":"tag-fresno-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102991","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=102991"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102991\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/102992"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=102991"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=102991"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=102991"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}