By BECKY HARRIS
Log Cabin Staff Writer

Conway residents are invited to express opinions about the proposed new airport in Lollie Bottoms at a public hearing from 5 to 8 p.m. on Thursday at the McGee Center.

"We have purchased 600 acres and have options on 200 more. It's so flat ... mostly soybean fields," said Brad Lacy, executive director of Conway Development Corp.

The airport, 7.5 miles southwest of the Faulkner County Courthouse, will take up about 150 to 200 acres of the total, leaving the rest for development.

Plans are for the new airport to have a 5,000-foot runway expandable to 7,000 feet, according to City Engineer Ronnie Hall, with a total cost estimated at approximately $10 million.

Following the public hearing and after the master plan is completed, the city will advertise for consulting services to prepare construction plans. It may take a year to get those ready for Federal Aviation Administration approval, Hall said.

Once that occurs, and if the FAA has matching money available, the city will be ready to advertise for bids for construction.

The current airport, Cantrell Field, does not meet FAA requirements for business jets, and its location within the city limits is a safety issue, Hall said.

The proposed site is about 3.5 miles south of Dave Ward Drive down Lollie Road.

It's quite a bit farther from the center of Conway than is the Conway Municipal Airport on Sixth Street, and that's the reason the Federal Aviation Administration is encouraging the city to build a new site for takeoffs and landings, Hall said.

(Staff writer Becky Harris can be reached by e-mail at becky.harris@thecabin.net or by phone at 505-1236.)