Gary airport will get another look

The Northwest Indiana Regional Development Authority is preparing to authorize a $449,732 study of whether or not Gary/Chicago International Airport should be developed as Chicago's "third airport" or something else.

An RDA committee on Thursday approved the use of RDA funds to pay for the report and it will now go the full RDA board for approval at its next meeting.

The new study will be done by International aviation consultant Landrum & Brown, which has done extensive work for O'Hare International and Midway airports.

The action on the study comes just two months after the RDA received a $50,000 report from consultant Short Elliott Hendrickson Inc., which found the airport should explore alternative means of financing, including limited or wholesale privatization.

"I have heard some people say, 'Oh no! not another study,'" said RDA Chairman Leigh Morris. "But this is not just another study. It will be an action-oriented plan for business success."