Kelly HayesThe St. Pete-Clearwater International Airport is set to receive over $10 million from two American Rescue Plan grants, U.S. Rep. Charlie Crist announced Friday.
The first grant, worth $9,809,329, is targeted to support the airport’s economic recovery from COVID-19 by covering costs related to airport operations, personnel, cleaning, sanitation, janitorial services, debt service payments and efforts to combat the spread of COVID-19.
The second grant will provide $979,617 in rental assistance for small and large concessions at the airport.
“The American Rescue Plan is still delivering for Floridians as we continue in our fight against COVID-19, and I’m grateful this relief is headed straight home to Pinellas’s own St. Pete-Clearwater International Airport,” Crist said in a statement. “So many Florida businesses that support our robust tourism economy have been hit hard by the economic impacts of COVID-19, and in response, Congress provided tangible relief—all without a single Republican vote—because it was simply the right thing to do. The jobs and well-being of every Floridian will always be my top priority.”
The St. Pete-Clearwater International Airport, constructed in 1941 following the attack on Pearl Harbor, is a local hub for commercial air travel as well as home to the busiest Coast Guard Air Station in the world.
The airport, located just north of St. Pete, is a 2,000-acre fully certified facility with two runways. The entire 2000-acre tract of the airport is designated as a Foreign Trade Zone.
