Dean Snyder Construction wins contract for Mason City airport terminal building project

MASON CITY — After rejecting an initial set of bids back in November, the Mason City Airport Commission on Wednesday awarded a contract to build the airport’s new commercial terminal building.

Airport manager David Sims says after rebidding the project, Dean Snyder Construction of Clear Lake was the winning bidder at $12.7 million.  “When we opened bids last month, we did receive two bids, one from Joseph Company out of Austin Minnesota and one from Dean Snyder from Clear Lake. However, not long after the bid opening, Joseph Company sent us a request to withdraw their bid. They had found a mistake in it.”

Sims says he’s happy the bidding process for the project is now over and construction can soon begin.  “This is a project that the very first mention of this project was a year and a half ago quite honestly, and the fact that we were able to design this project, get it bid, unfortunately get it re-bid, and get it under contract in such a fast timeline is really astounding and has been a great project so far.”

Sims says the timeline for the project has not changed despite having to re-bid the project.   “Because of the deadline for the federal money, we have not pushed back the timeline for completion of the building. Neither contractor indicated to us they felt that would be an issue, and so we look forward to be making that deadline and having this building completed hopefully by the summer of 2024.”

Sims says the terminal project is long overdue for the airport.   “This is just an amazing project for North Iowa, it’s the largest project the Mason City Airport has undertaken probably since the existing terminal building was constructed in 1966.”

The majority of the cost of the project is being funded by grants from the Federal Aviation Administration. The new commercial terminal building will provide for more gate hold space for passengers, a larger more modern security checkpoint, and additional functional spaces for the airline, bus line, Transportation Security Administration, and the airport administration.