Former U.S. Rep. Peter J. Visclosky has stepped down as chairman of the Gary/Chicago International Airport Authority, officials said during Friday’s meeting in Gary.
Visclosky did not attend the meeting.
Former Republican Gov. Eric Holcomb appointed Visclosky authority chairman in 2022.
A Gary Democrat, Visclosky left Congress in 2020 after 35 years in the U.S. House of Representatives, from Indiana’s 1st District.
By state law, the governor appoints the chairman of the authority. Visclosky’s term doesn’t expire until Jan. 31, 2026. His replacement hasn’t been announced yet by Gov. Mike Braun.
Tom Collins Jr., Porter County’s representative on the authority, announced Visclosky’s retirement at the end of the meeting.
“He came in with a mission,” Collins said of Visclosky. He said Visclosky helped negotiate a separation agreement with Avports/AFCO LLC, a private company that ran airport operations for eight years.
Under Visclosky, the airport once again ran operations in-house under the leadership of executive director Dan Vicari, who was hired in January 2022.
Collins credited Visclosky with upgrading the airport’s accounting systems and correcting past audit issues.
He said Visclosky also “championed” the airport compact agreement with the city of Chicago and helped collect funding from Chicago.
Collins said Visclosky continued to work with his successor, U.S. Rep. Frank J. Mrvan, D-Highland, toward airport improvements including a new hangar and a new $15 million cargo ramp.
Authority member Millicent Lyles said she’s never witnessed leadership as strong as Visclosky’s.
“He didn’t do that by being the biggest voice or the biggest ego. He did that by encouraging people to speak up and voice their own opinion,” she said.
As the authority’s lone woman member, Lyles said Visclosky helped build her confidence “and that is something I will hold dearly,” she said.
Authority member Trent McCain, who served as deputy mayor when Visclosky joined the board, said Visclosky often called the authority the first board he ever worked on.
“From day one, he was dedicated to learning the business and dedicated to moving the airport forward.”
In other business, the board awarded a $15 million contract to Superior Construction, of Gary, to build a new cargo and general aviation concrete ramp on 8.5 acres on the airport’s west end.
Vicari called it the airport’s biggest investment since its $174.1 million runway extension project in 2015.
UPS, which leases space at the airport, will use the new ramp to expand its operations. It’s now based at the airport’s passenger terminal.
Airport officials hope to attract more cargo business, in addition to UPS.
Officials said work would begin in September and take about 120 days.
Vicari said funding came from Mrvan’s community projects fund and from former President Joe Biden’s bipartisan infrastructure law. The airport’s cost share is $300,000.
The authority also approved a $258,354 contract with Frequentis USA Inc. for a new voice switch communications system for the airport’s tower.
Airport operations director Ken Cast said the old communications console dates back to 1988 and parts and support were no longer available.
The authority approved a settlement agreement with the fixed-based operator Gary Jet Center related to the payment of landing fees in its lease. The settlement amount wasn’t disclosed.
Carole Carlson is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
