AUBURN — The Auburn-Lewiston Municipal Airport has secured funding to add 10 hangars known as T-hangars as part of plans to grow general aviation and revenue.

A $1.6 million grant through the Federal Aviation Administration was originally approved for a bigger “box” hangar as part of Elite Airways’ attempt to establish and grow a maintenance facility in Auburn, which abruptly ended when the now-defunct airline stopped payments and operations in the summer of 2022.

The airport board and Director Jonathan LaBonte reworked the earmark designation for the T-hangars, which had been approved for some time. The total cost of the project is $3.9 million.

An additional $1.16 million is coming from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and both cities and the state will kick in a portion of the balance. The share for Lewiston and Auburn is between $130,000 and $140,000 each.

LaBonte said Monday that the bid for the hangars went out late last year and were opened in December.

“We had a low bidder, and one of the requirements in the bid was that you’d have to hold your pricing until May 15,” he said. Funding had been held up for review, which is when LaBonte got in touch with Maine’s congressional delegation.

“Nothing leads me to believe that these funds were frozen but that they were part of an ongoing review, and the FAA grants, as other federal grants, come with conditions,” Labonte said. The funding has been released.

The hangars will be leased by pilots who are already based at the airport or who wish to be.

A separate 6,400-square-foot box hangar, which is larger and freestanding, is being privately funded.

Both projects are on the west side of the airport where the terminal is located.

“We actually permitted three T-hangars. We’re building one but we’re building in such a way that the infrastructure is laid out to lower the cost for the next round of T-hangars,” LaBonte said.

The buildings will be located behind an existing hangar and adjacent to the terminal.

“We’re building a taxi lane that will come off of the parallel taxiway at that southern end (Runway 4/22), and if you’ve driven on Flightline Drive there’s a gravel parking lot that UPS has been using for a couple of years,” LaBonte said.

LaBonte is hopeful the hangars will be constructed and in service within a year. He said he expects to firm up the schedule in the next two weeks.