Wallace breaks ground on $20M airport improvement project

WALLACE — With the symbolic shoveling of dirt on Tuesday morning, $20 million worth of renovations began at the Wallace-Pender Airport.

The project will last through the end of 2026, and will include relocating roads around the airport to make way for an expanded runway, Airport Director Ben Jones said.

“Right now, the roads are in the way of the runway,” Jones explained. “After we move the roads, we can expand the runway to 5,500 feet.”

Jones said he expects the road relocation to be complete by December of this year or January of next year, and then the runway expansion will follow by the end of 2026. The renovations also mean that in the future, the runway can be expanded to 7,500 feet, if necessary.

“This will bring a lot of new jobs and opportunities,” he said. “There will be a lot of manufacturing jobs, due to the new airport hub.”

The airport expansion will also benefit younger people who are just starting their careers, Jones said. “It opens up a lot of jobs to young Americans who want to get into aviation but may not have otherwise had the opportunity,” he added.

“It means a lot to the future of not only Duplin, but Pender County as well as the Wallace area,” Mayor Jason Wells said. “With the expansion comes economic opportunity.”
The rapid growth the Wilmington area is experiencing has caused many recreational pilots to seek more rural airports, Wells added. That’s good news for Wallace, but it also means the road relocation and runway expansion are much needed. He said the project has been in the works for about 10 years, and added that he is pleased to see it finally come to fruition.

“It’s been a labor of love to get this done,” said Warren Hepler, former town council member and a member of the airport board for more than 20 years. “We are centrally located here, with Wilmington, Jacksonville and Fayetteville able to use this as an emergency runway.”

The groundbreaking ceremony on Tuesday morning brought in members of the town council, the airport board and Pender County Commissioner Jerry Groves.

“Without the hard work of all of these folks here, none of this would have happened,” Wells said. “It does mean a lot to the future of our community to see the expansion of this airport.”