Construction starts next week at Hilton Head’s north end airport. Here’s the plan
The entrance to the Hilton Head Island Airport is getting a new sign and entryway from Beach City Road on the island’s north end, according to a news release from Beaufort County.
By mid-April, people arriving at the airport will see a new sign and landscaping, as well as the “Humanus” sculpture, which the airport purchased last year form local artist Kevin Eichner, Beaufort County Airports director Jon Rembold said.
The upgrades to the entrance start next week and will likely cause lane closures in the area around the airport, the release said.
A new sign and landscaping will cost about $350,000, Rembold said.
Hilton Head accommodations taxes allocated in 2018 will fund $100,000 of the project, a match from Beaufort County of $200,000 will cover most of the rest, and Rembold said the remaining $50,000 will be contributed from the airport’s operations fund.
Although a plan to double the amount of parking at the airport has been in the works, Rembold said changes to the parking lot are not part of the entryway project.
The new entryway will replace the sign that many, including Rembold, find dated, and help passengers more clearly see where to turn from Beach City Road.
The project comes at a busy time for the airport, which saw a 236% increase in passengers in 2019, according to previous reporting by The Island Packet.
In May, the airport received a $10 million federal grant for expansion.
The grant will fund the terminal expansion, ”specifically targeting increased airline traffic, meeting the needs of a growing number of airline customers while keeping within the historical, geographical and budgetary boundaries of Beaufort County’s development plans,” Rembold said in 2019.
Several nearby businesses and a historic church are in the process of moving because of the airport expansion.
The historic St. James Baptist Church, located north of the airport runway, will likely relocate to the vacant land near the Old Union Cemetery to get out of the runway’s protection zone. The church was built there in 1886.
Meanwhile, businesses on Hunter Road closer to the airport’s entrance received notice last year that the county would survey and potentially purchase their land to make room for the airport terminal expansion.
