Winsted
The Winsted Municipal Airport has hangars available for lease. Call the City of Winsted at 320-485-2366 for more information.
For those who love to fly ai rplanes, the Winsted
Municipal Airport is an exhilarating place to spend a day.
The airport is located at 3234 230th Street, on the
southwest edge of Winsted. It became city property in
1962.
Improvements to be completed in 2020
Winsted City Council, during its Feb. 19, 2019 meeting,
approved plans and specifications, and authorized Bolton
& Menk to advertise for bids for a runway reconstruction
project at the Winsted Municipal Airport.
The design of the turf runway project includes the following
key components:
a. Runway width will be 120 feet, with 20-foot shoulders for
a total width of 160 feet.
b. New lighting, runway end identifier lights (REILS) and
electrical building.
c. Regrading of runway safety area on west and east ends
of the turf runway.
d. New taxiway pavement.
e. Obstruction removal (trees and brush) on south and
east sides.
The project construction cost is estimated at $2,155,500.
A Federal FAA prequalification grant request was submitted
for this work in December 2018.
The anticipated funding will be 90 percent federal (FAA),
5 percent state (MnDOT), and 5 percent local (city).
The city council, during its April 2, 2019 meeting, approved
a bid from R and G Construction Company for the Runway
9/27 reconstruction project at the Winsted Municipal Airport
File photo
in the amount of $1,797,423, contingent upon the availability
of federal and state funds. The engineer’s estimate for the
project was $1,728,090.
Wet weather and a delay in receiving funding resulted in
the runway improvement project at the Winsted Municipal
Airport being pushed back to 2020, City Administrator Adam
Birkholz said during a council work session Oct. 1, 2019.
He noted that the city received the funds Sept. 23, but this
was six or seven weeks later than anticipated.
Birkholz said he met with the airport commission to discuss
options, and consensus was to begin construction as soon
as possible in the spring of 2020, possibly in May.
Construction is expected to take about three months, plus
six to eight weeks for turf establishment.
Relocation of a gas line on the west side of the project,
took place in fall 2019.
Airport history
In late 2011, construction began on a 1,100 -square-
foot airport arrival/departure building, which replaced a
700-square-foot terminal from the 1980s. In June 2012, the
building was dedicated in honor of Winsted resident Russ
Paschke.
Paschke was involved with the airport for 35 years, and
served as airport commission chair since 1988. He was
also the airport manager, monitoring and conducting
maintenance at the facility, and calling in the status of the
runway.
Capital improvements
Maintenance and improvements to keep the airport a
viable asset to the city and its hangar owners have been
done through annual capital improvement projects, with
the majority of costs paid for through federal funding.
Recommendations and priorities of various upgrades are
made by the airport commission, with final approval given
by the Winsted City Council.
Airport commission
Lic. No. PM060858
• Residential • Light Commercial
• Service & Repair • Plumbing
• Heating • Air Conditioning
• Remodeling • New Construction
1444 245th St., Winsted
Licensed • Bonded • Insured
Winsted’s airport commission was reinstated at the
beginning of 2018. The commission includes:
• Brenda Vetsch, member at-large
• Rick Stodola, hangar owner
• David Hanus, hangar owner
• Jeff Campbell, resident
• Glenn Weibel, resident
• Steve Stotko, mayor/city council liaison
• Adam Birkholz, ex-officio