Ocean City's Airport Project "Still on Radar"

By MADDY VITALE Ocean City has the beach, the Boardwalk and the bay. Then there is another gem that is sometimes overlooked – the city’s municipal airport. For the past few years, the airport has been the topic of discussion by city officials noting its need for a major facelift. But the project to replace the aging and small terminal building has stayed in the preliminary phases, while the city looks for funding. In the latest development, the airport was part of a presentation by Chief Financial Officer Frank Donato on Ocean City’s five-year capital plan during the March 28 City Council meeting. Donato outlined plans for an updated airport terminal. The airport plan was part of a separate presentation for projects that are forecasted but remain in the early stages and may or may not be built. “The airport building is still on the radar,” Donato assured the Council members in his briefing. A small and antiquated building that currently serves as the airport's operations center would be replaced with a new terminal. Donato unveiled a new architectural rendering of the project, which features a multi-level airport building for a new terminal and also a restaurant offering panoramic views of the bayside. “This is probably a $9 or $10 million dollar rendering,” he explained of the project depicted in the plans. “You know we have a $3 million generous donation in hand from Mr. Leon Grisbaum that would go toward the building.” In 2022, Grisbaum, an aviation enthusiast now in his 90s and who was a private pilot for nearly 75 years, donated $3 million to partly fund the new terminal. Grisbaum is the owner of Ocean City’s Berger Realty. Donato said that while the donation is a generous one, the city would still need further funding to make the project possible. The city sought $3 million in funding through the Federal Aviation Administration to help pay for the project in addition to Grisbaum's donation. The city would need roughly about $6 million in additional money to build the new terminal. “We were unsuccessful in a $3 million dollar FAA grant in the last few months,” Donato pointed out. “It’s possible we could apply for it again in the fall. We are trying to figure out a path forward on this, but it is still firmly on the radar to move forward.” Berger Realty owner Leon Grisbaum, a pilot for nearly 75 years, presents Mayor Jay Gillian with a ceremonial check of $3 million to help fund a new terminal building at Ocean City Municipal Airport in 2022. When and if the city does secure the needed funding for the terminal, it would be named the “Leon and Elizabeth Grisbaum Airport Terminal” in recognition of Grisbaum and his late wife for the donation, officials said. The donation is in escrow and would be returned to Grisbaum if the terminal is not built, the city previously announced. Not only is the airport used by travelers to hop to and from the resort, but it is also a popular spot for the annual air show and festival as well as a place for lunch, courtesy of a food truck. In addition to a new terminal and restaurant, there would be an array of other amenities in the new structure. Among them, the new terminal building would include better facilities for pilots, airport offices and a pro shop serving Ocean City’s public golf course next door. Currently, the airport’s control center continues to operate out of an aging building that once included a popular diner for locals to eat breakfast and lunch. The diner has long since closed and has been replaced with a food truck located in the airport parking lot during the summer. Small planes line the tarmac.