Will the Vicksburg Municipal Airport remain a part of the city’s transportation system or become the site of a new multipurpose sports complex?

The answer could lie in the public’s perception of the almost 70-year-old facility.

Mayor George Flaggs Jr. has called a 5 p.m. public hearing at the City Hall Annex to discuss the airport’s future as means to help him (and possibly the city’s two aldermen) reach a decision whether to close it down or keep it operating.

Built in 1948 and covering about 200 acres of almost flat land, the airport and its surrounding property in June came under consideration with three other properties as the possible site for the city’s proposed sports complex. Its location on U.S. 61 South and its expanse of flat land made it an ideal candidate, but there is one major stumbling block. It will cost the city $1.3 million to reimbursement the Federal Aviation Administration and the Mississippi Department of Transportation for grants both agencies gave the city to improve safety at the facility.

Faced with that kind of expense on top of whatever else it may cost to close the airport, Flaggs wants to make sure whatever decision is made regarding either closing or keeping the airport open is the correct move financially. And he wants to get opinions from city residents and county officials before he takes the plunge.

“I’m of the opinion that this cannot be a city hall-only decision,” Flaggs said. “It must include all the interested parties that utilize the airport: the (Warren County) Board of Supervisors, port commission, chamber of commerce, everybody.

“It’s got to be a community decision because of the fact that if we close this airport, regardless of the sport complex, or not, the potential of getting an airport back in Vicksburg is slim and none.”

One of the major concerns in this issue is whether the city can afford to support two airports. Besides the municipal airport, Vicksburg is a partner with Warren County, Tallulah, La., and Madison Parish in the operation of the Vicksburg-Tallulah Regional Airport in Mound, La.

The munincipal airport has run a deficit since fiscal 2011. The city’s share of the costs for operating Vicksburg-Tallulah has averaged $52,091 a year from fiscal 2011 to 2014.

Bedsides the cost of operating the Vicksburg Municipal Airport, there is its potential for growth, which is non-existent. The city cannot expand its runway beyond 5,000 feet, which restricts the type of aircraft the airport can accommodate.

Discussions over whether to close the airport in favor of Vicksburg-Tallulah are not new. Plans to close it in the 1990s led to a court fight.

This time, the stakes are almost as high, and the mayor is probably wise in finding out what the city’s residents think. Either way the city goes — open or close, it faces a serious expense, so whatever decision the Board of Mayor and Aldermen reach will in someway hit the city’s pocketbook.

Just how much could depend who appears at the City Hall Annex and what they’re willing to say.