CASCADE TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WOOD) — Plans for a new air traffic control tower at Gerald R. Ford International Airport near Grand Rapids are moving forward, with updated renderings released Monday.

The current tower has been in service for 61 years and its location attached to the terminal would prevent some future airport expansion projects.

“This is a really big announcement for us today. This is the next step of several steps that we’ve taken to ensure that our air traffic control tower does, in fact, get a new design and location with a much better height and vantage point,” Tory Richardson, the president and CEO of the airport authority, said at a Monday event.

Local leaders wrote a letter in June 2022 calling on the federal government to replace the tower.

“Unfortunately, the line-of-sight issues because of its height and location are restricting us from being able to do things like a new parking garage. We already know that we’re short of close (to the terminal) and covered parking spaces. We can’t build another garage until the tower is relocated to a different spot,” Richardson said.

Ford Airport’s tower is now second on the Federal Aviation Administration’s list of control towers to be replaced, behind the one at Miami International Airport.

U.S. Rep. Hillary Scholten, D-Grand Rapids, who sits on the House Transportation Committee, helped unveiled the tower renderings Monday. She proposed a provision that was added to the FAA Reauthorization Act that required the agency to submit a report to Congress explaining the process for choosing the next control towers to be replaced, plus publish a list online of those replaced in the past 10 years and those on the list to be replaced. Another provision requires the FAA to consider replacing towers more than 50 years old at small hub commercial service airports, like Ford.

The project is expected to cost between $60 million and $70 million and would move the tower away from the terminal to a spot with a better view of the runways. Those advocating for the tower are looking for funding from Congress in the 2026 budget.

The airport said the project will help the airport continue to grow.

“We need to see the facility built and designed to maintain the operational capabilities for the next 60-plus years,” Richardson said.