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1950s — September 2025
The field under the airport changed as the airplanes did: Until the 1980s Bendix Field worked four runways. In the 1950s the east–west runway 9 was 5,000 feet, runways 6 and 12 were 4,000 feet each — their lines survive as taxiways A-3 and A-4 — and runway 18 was 3,059 feet. In 1963–65 runway 9 was extended to 6,000 feet. The airport's growth took ground from an older road: a stretch of the historic Michigan Road, carried into the city as Lincoln Way West, was removed and rerouted along the airport's south side as the runways grew. The Federal Aviation Administration's current record for the field describes 2,200 acres at 799 feet of elevation, all asphalt: runway 9R/27L at 8,414 by 150 feet, runway 18/36 at 7,100 by 150 feet, and runway 9L/27R at 4,300 by 75 feet. The most recent rebuild was the largest in the field's history: a $105 million Taxiway Bravo realignment and ramp reconstruction — described by the airport as a seven-year project, and in the airport's own ribbon-cutting release as a five-year one — completed in September 2025 with a ribbon cutting on 30 September 2025, leaving all nine gates able to take larger mainline aircraft. Both durations are printed as the airport stated them.
Sources:
- Federal Aviation Administration airport record for SBN — 2,200 acres, elevation 799 feet, runways 9R/27L 8,414 × 150 ft, 18/36 7,100 × 150 ft, 9L/27R 4,300 × 75 ft, all asphalt.
- The airport's historical record as compiled from the field's sectional-chart and airport-history sources — the four-runway layout to the 1980s, the 1950s runway lengths, and the 1963–65 extension of runway 9 to 6,000 feet; Indiana Transportation History for the Michigan Road/Lincoln Way West removal and rerouting.
- St. Joseph County Airport Authority releases, September 2025 — the $105 million Taxiway Bravo Realignment and Ramp Reconstruction completed September 2025, ribbon cutting 30 September 2025, all nine gates able to take larger mainline aircraft.