Indiana State Police will soon have a more significant presence in Greenwood than originally planned as crews wrap up construction on its 16,000-square-foot aircraft hangar and office, about a year later than expected.
After multiple delays, construction of the Indiana State Police hangar will be completed in the next month or two. City officials said Tuesday it is expected to be operational by early spring, but would not say for certain it will be up and running by the end of March.
ISP moved its aviation fleet, SWAT and dive teams from Indianapolis Regional Airport in Mount Comfort to temporary housing at the Greenwood airport nearly a year ago. Now, as construction on its potentially permanent home wraps up, state police officials say they’re planning to move even more departments to the new space.
The city broke ground on the police agency’s new hangar in June at the Indy South Greenwood Airport. The project, which the city is funding entirely, has been in the works for at least two years.
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About 20 state police employees will work out of the Greenwood airport, according to a City of Greenwood news release.
The aviation fleet operates with six pilots, two Tactical Flight Officers and two part-time Tactical Flight Officers. Its Special Operations Section staff consists of a Major, Captain and two Lieutenants.
City officials said Monday it will also house the agency’s Strategic Planning Section, which plans for and organizes the agency’s participation and presence at major events such as the Indy 500, said Ron Galaviz, an ISP spokesperson. The department has four staff members. ISP plans to hire two additional administrative positions once they get settled, the news release said.
"Our biggest presence out there will still be our aviation fleet and all of its assets," Galaviz said.
Initially, city and airport officials wanted to see the new hangar operational last spring, but that was delayed by contract issues and weather, said Greg Wright, city controller.
The process was delayed first due to the amount of time it took the legal teams involved to review the contracts, and because steel wasn’t readily available, city officials said in March. Then, significant rain put a damper on construction. That pushed the project into the winter months.
The city agreed to build the new airport hangar and office space for the state police aviation department in 2018. Several aircrafts will be housed at the hangar, which will be located south of the main hangar on the airport’s property off County Line Road and Emerson Avenue.
The city’s redevelopment commission agreed to spend about $2.5 million on the project. About $1.3 million was available from funds already dedicated to airport improvement projects. Indiana State Police is not paying any of the construction costs.
State police will lease the hangar from the city for about $5,000 a month. The initial lease is for six years, but both the city and ISP expect the partnership to extend beyond that, they have said.
The city will own and operate the hangar. The city designed the lease to recapture the costs of building the hangar over about 48 years.
The state police move to Greenwood is expected to increase fuel sales at the airport significantly and make the airport eligible for more grants. Eligibility is often based on the number of takeoffs and landings, city officials have said.
“Indy South Greenwood Airport continues its impressive growth and has become a significant driver of economic development in both Greenwood and Johnson County,” Greenwood mayor Mark Myers said in the news release. “We are happy to offer the Indiana State Police a convenient location for such a critically important component of Hoosier law enforcement.”
ISP’s aviation department was located at the Indianapolis International Airport until 2014, when it moved to Mount Comfort, east of Indianapolis. That lease ended in 2018.
The new hangar will be the largest at the local airport.
Greenwood is an ideal location for these department, specifically the aviation department, because it allows for quick access to Interstate 65, and because the aircrafts can get anywhere in Indiana in under an hour, ISP officials have said.
