The new Snow Removal Equipment building at the Marshall airport has about 7,800 square feet of space. That includes garage space for equipment like snowplows and sweepers, as well as an office and mechanical space.

MARSHALL — It takes a lot of heavy equipment to keep Marshall’s airport runway clear of snow in the winter. There are snowplows, a sand truck, and a giant snowblower and street sweeper.

But until now, the airport barely had room to store and repair that important equipment, maintenance workers said.

“We had (the equipment) in four different buildings, so doing maintenance was difficult,” said Andy Meulebroeck, lead maintenance worker at the Marshall airport. A newly-completed Snow Removal Equipment (SRE) building at the airport will make a difference. “This will be centrally located,” Meulebroeck said, and will have space for all the snow removal vehicles and equipment.

On Thursday, the city of Marshall held a ribbon-cutting for the new SRE building, which is located on Madrid Circle.

“We’re thrilled to be at this point where the building is completed,” said Marshall Mayor Bob Byrnes.

The $2.9 million project was made possible with state and federal grant funding, Marshall city staff said. The project received $1.7 million in federal funding from the Airport Infrastructure Grant program and the Airport Improvement Program, and $1.2 million in state funding.

“This building has been on our capital improvement plan since 2011, and it’s incredibly rewarding to see it be built and come to fruition,” said Marshall Public Works Director Jason Anderson. Construction on the SRE building started last year.

Guests at the ribbon-cutting included project engineers and representatives of the Minnesota Department of Transprtation, as well as staff from the offices of U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, Sen. Tina Smith, and Rep. Michelle Fischbach.

Meulebroeck helped lead tours of the new building after the ribbon-cutting. He said airport maintenance staff had moved all the snow removal vehicles to the new building earlier this week. Tools and equipment for maintaining the vehicles will also be moved in.

Anderson said the SRE building includes a shop space measuring 80 by 80 feet, “Which is going to be really, really nice for our team out here.” The building also includes 1,400 square feet of office space and additional mechanical storage. The building also has an upper mezzanine space, he said.

“It reduces downtime, reduces inefficiencies for operational reliability, and also includes significant storage capacity for parts and supplies,” Airport Commission chairman Brent Snodgrass said of the new building. As a result of the construction, utilities access has also been expanded at Marshall’s Airpark East, he said.

Being able to keep snow removal equipment maintained and ready to go is vital for airport operations in Minnesota winters, city officials said.

“That equipment – the very wide (plow) blades, the brushes, the blowers – that’s essential, because this really needs to be available 24 hours a day,” Byrnes said. “Whenever an aircraft needs to land, the runways need to be open.”