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It was an exciting day for the Coos County Airport District.

Gov. Ted Kulongoski visited the soon-to-be-open new terminal at Southwest Oregon Regional Airport and handed airport officials a check for $624,000 to complete funding for a $3 million air-traffic control tower.

The funds were made available through a Connect Oregon II grant — a $100-million lottery-bond-backed program. The tower was one of 30 projects approved by the Oregon Transportation Commission this year.

With the sun shining on the tarmac and a breeze blowing off Coos Bay, at about 11:30 a.m., Kulongoski’s aircraft was the first one ever to taxi up to the terminal, scheduled for its grand opening on July 1.

Kulongoski was joined by state Sen. Joanne Verger, D-Coos Bay and Reps. Arnie Roblan, D-Coos Bay, and Wayne Krieger, R-Gold Beach.

“This project represents what the Connect Oregon II program is all about,” Kulongoski said. “The funding attached to this project will benefit all of Oregon.”

The tower will allow the airport to provide Control Class D Airspace, a term used by the Federal Aviation Administration for the airspace surrounding an airport that has an operating control tower.

The tower’s construction is scheduled to be completed in January 2009. Once it’s in operation, federal law will require aircraft entering the airport to communicate with the tower.The 98-foot tower, with state-of-the-art air communications equipment, will provide increased capacity for aircraft at the airport, greater efficiency in landings and take-offs and heightened safety, airport Executive Director Gary LeTellier said.

Kulongoski commended businesses, legislators and residents for helping to make the tower and the $20-million terminal come to fruition. He said Verger, Roblan and Krieger were the “champions” of the program.

“It proves when business and government sit down together, every Oregonian wins,” he said. “It’s not just about state legislators, it’s about you, the people, who helped make it happen.”

Verger agreed that it was the people who started the process moving forward to get the new terminal.

“It is the wisdom of the public to vote for the concept of an airport district,” Verger said, calling the new terminal a “key economic engine for our area.”

Krieger said that even though the project isn’t in his district, he could see the benefit to the entire South Coast. During the 2005 Legislative session, the terminal project was his No. 1 priority. He congratulated legislators for “taking off their party hats and working together.”

Roblan pointed outside through the wall of windows along the north face of the terminal toward McCullough Bridge.

“The three-legged stool of infrastructure is all visible here in grand display,” he said, referring to air, roads and rail. He admitted he left ports out of the metaphor.

“To make this become what it could be, there was only one thing left,” he said, pointing to an area where the tower is under construction.

Roblan thanked the city of North Bend, where the district was formed.

The event was attended by about 50 people, including North Bend Mayor Rick Wetherell and Jeff McKeown, the mayor of Coos Bay.

It was four years ago, McKeown recalled, that the governor formed the Oregon Solutions task force to work toward building the new terminal.

“We came a long, long way to get here,” McKeown said.

Wetherell said he appreciated Roblan’s comments about North Bend.

“I don’t think anybody expected this to be as wonderful as it turned out to be,” Wetherell said. “It’s just going to add to the community, the allure. Just look at the view.”