Logan County has broken ground for two new county facilities that, among other things, will provide meeting space for the community.

The largest facility is the Logan County Extension Service building being constructed on U.S. 68 By-Pass in front of the area where the agency holds its farmers market. The other new facility is an airport terminal that will replace a modular building that has been at the Franklin Road facility in Russellville for more than 20 years.

The 14,400-square-foot extension service building will be considerably larger than its current 4,600-square-foot building in downtown Russellville.

It will have meeting space for up to 350 people.

“There is just not anywhere in the county where you can have a meeting of that size, unless it’s one of the high schools,” said Chris Milam, Logan County’s agriculture extension agent. “And with their busy schedules, it is getting more difficult to find dates to secure space in them.”

Milam said getting that new meeting space was really a driving force to build the $1.5 million building under contract to Circle C Construction of Russellville.

Contractors broke ground a week ago on the building, which will have brick and metal on its one-story facade.

“We don’t really have a set completion date but are hoping that it could be done by the end of February so we could have the chamber’s annual dinner there,” Milam said. “We are real excited about it.”

Logan County Judge-Executive Logan Chick had thought the old extension service building might have some use as a senior citizens center, but he said the city is considering having it locate into the old hospital building it has purchased.

So, Chick said, the building has been put on the market for about $300,000.

Across town, Circle C also received the contract to work on the airport building, a decision made by a separate board. It has gotten the foundation dug for the roughly 3,000-square-foot building, according to Steve Wilson, the fixed base operator.

“Then the rain hit but we would gladly be delayed by any rain at this point,” he said.

Wilson has been in the FBO since June 1986, which was about the time students at the Russellville vocational school built the modular building currently used as a terminal building.

“It’s really just a bit small for what we need,” he said.

Wilson said the new space will have a pilot’s lounge, a small meeting room, which also would be available for community groups, an office area and a break room. It also will have a large covered porch area.

“We are also getting new fuel tanks capable of having jet fuel and are taking the old underground tank out,” Wilson said. “That will be a good boon to us. We really needed it this summer and didn’t have it.”

Wilson said the airport’s runway is 4,000 feet long, so it can handle small business jets. It currently is used by Emerson Electric and Griffin Industries, he said.

“We have on the drawing board a 1,000-foot extension,” he said. “When we get that, we would be able to handle most small and medium size jets.”

The runway extension, however, is just on the wish list; no funding has been secured, Wilson said.

This project, which totals about $600,000, is being paid for mostly with state funding, he said. Wilson said he is hoping for a spring completion date.

The extension service project is being bank financed with the debt service being paid with extension tax collected each year, Milam said.