Storm-damaged Johnson County airport hangars will be rebuilt

Five hangars that were badly damaged by high winds at Johnson County Executive Airport will be rebuilt, following a vote by the Johnson County Commission.

The Commission on Dec. 21 approved a $3.1 million contract with Rothwell Construction to rebuild the T-hangars — nicknamed Oscar, Romeo, Papa, Sierra and Tango — at the airport at 151st Street and Pflumm Road in Olathe.

The National Weather Service office in Pleasant Hill determined that straight-line winds reaching 85 mph hit the airport on the evening of March 6. All five hangars were affected at the executive airport, which is one of the busiest general airports in the area, serving corporate, business and general aviation clients.

It is four miles southeast of Olathe’s central business district.

Each hangar had room for 14 planes and all the spaces had been leased. Just assessing the damage was painstaking and took months, because each hangar door had to be individually powered and opened to remove the plane and other property inside.

Tango, Sierra and Romeo were built in 1980 and Oscar and Papa were built in 1993. Tango was completely destroyed, and Papa and Sierra were so badly damaged that airport officials determined they needed to be rebuilt.

They initially planned to repair Romeo and Oscar, but the bids to repair those hangars were only about $170,000 less than the bids to completely rebuild, so both the Johnson County Airport Commission and the Johnson County Commission approved a plan to rebuild all five hangars.

Rothwell Construction was the lowest bid at $3,139,680.

The cost to rebuild Tango, Papa and Sierra is expected to be covered through an insurance claim. The amount above the insurance settlement for Romeo and Oscar repairs will be paid from airport funds.

Airport officials hope the work can be completed in September 2018.

This story was originally published December 26, 2017 at 12:48 PM with the headline "Storm-damaged Johnson County airport hangars will be rebuilt."