PRESQUE ISLE, Maine — Presque Isle has officially broken ground at its new airport terminal, a $38 million building that’s been in the works for more than two years.
Officials from the city, JetBlue and the Maine Department of Transportation, along with legislative representatives and U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, were on hand on May 10 for a groundbreaking ceremony, braving the rain to don hard hats and toss shovelfuls of dirt.
The $38 million airport terminal will replace a more than 70-year-old building that was first designed as a fire station and no longer meets Federal Aviation Administration size or security requirements. The building and associated groundwork projects will total $52.6 million. The project received its biggest boost with $20.5 million in congressionally directed spending, which Collins announced in 2024.
That $20.5 million was the largest amount Collins, former vice chair and current chair of the senate appropriations committee, has requested so far, she said. Besides meeting safety, security and size guidelines, the new structure stands to boost economic development in northern Maine.
“I’m convinced that this beautiful new terminal is going to help us recruit more people to The County, as well as more tourists,” she said. “Presque Isle International Airport helps connect The County to the world. And just as important, and to the benefit of those who are not fortunate enough to live here, it connects the world to The County.”
She recounted speaking with a hospital official about the difficulty of recruiting medical providers to the area, and said the new terminal would enhance people’s first impressions of Presque Isle.
The city’s first airport was created 95 years ago by investors from the Presque Isle Airport Company, with a small hangar and a grass runway, Collins said. One of the first flights was a shipment of Maine potatoes to then-President Herbert Hoover in Washington, D.C.
The airport became part of the Presque Isle Air Base during World War II and was later featured in an aviation magazine as one of five small airports that played vital roles in American aviation, she said.
The new terminal project has blended efforts by the Federal Aviation Administration, Maine Department of Transportation, legislators, city officials and the city’s Airport Advisory Committee, and is evidence of the area’s collaborative spirit, Collins said.
Interim Presque Isle City Manager Sonja Eyler said the airport evokes fond memories of her childhood, when she and her family, along with other community members, would visit the site on Sundays to watch planes land.
The groundbreaking represents a new chapter for the city and all of Aroostook County, she said.
“It reflects the continued growth and evolution of this vital transportation hub,” she said. “We are not simply building a terminal or a runway. We’re building an infrastructure that will connect our region to new opportunities, new partnerships and new prosperity.”
Airport Director Scott Wardwell recounted Collins’ support through the years, including advocating for updated weather and snow removal equipment, expediting Essential Air Service contracts and in helping secure federal funding for the new terminal project.
In 2018, jet service returned for the first time since the 1970s, Wardwell said. That service was United Airlines, a major carrier that helped provide global connections to grow Presque Isle as a hub.
The completed terminal will also augment a coming aerospace park whose first tenant, VALT Enterprizes, is already giving local graduates jobs in the engineering field, he said.
“We are just getting started,” Wardwell said. “The next horizon is the creation of a 72-acre aerospace research park right here in Presque Isle. Once completed, this facility will offer over 400 well-paying jobs for scientists and engineers.”
Other speakers included Presque Isle Public Information Officer Kim Smith; Nathan Moulton, director of the Office of Freight and Logistics with Maine DOT; Jack Penning of Volaire Aviation, the city’s aviation consultant; Reese Davidson, JetBlue’s director of international and regulatory counsel; Jordyn Madore, local representative for U.S. Sen. Angus King; and Barb Hayslett, local representative for Rep. Jared Golden.
The Aroostook County Composite Squadron of Civil Air Patrol presented colors, and Kelly O’Mara and Shelby Pelletier sang the national anthem.
