After almost a half-year of construction, the city of LaFayette is ready to open its new fixed-based operator building at the Barwick-LaFayette airport.

Funded mostly by a $500,000 grant from OneGeorgia, which the city was awarded in July 2011, the $623,400 project was completed by J&J Contractors of Chattanooga, which began work in August 2012.

The new terminal replaced and re-oriented the former fixed-based operator building, which was structurally weak and spatially inadequate for the airport’s needs.

Although the entirety of the work was supposed to be completed by mid-January 2013, LaFayette city manager Frank Etheridge said weather and paperwork delays have prevented the parking lot from being paved and finished by that time.

“It won't be done until March,” he said.

While the parking lot is being finalized, the city is busy prepping the building with new furniture and is choosing photos of colorful local scenes to adorn the walls.

The building will be ready for pilots to use by mid-February, and will feature amenities such as an updated pilots’ lounge and flight-planning room and a conference room which could easily accommodate a formal meeting between traveling businesspersons.

Though the airport is not used by all, Etheridge said it is still of great economic value to the city.

“It actually creates 65 jobs,” he said, “local jobs, and just around four million dollars of revenue.”