In January 2019, a runway realignment project was completed. The project had first been conceived more than 20 years earlier but construction did not get underway until 2014. Ninety percent of the funding for the $30 million project was provided by the federal government. History The airport was built as an Army training field in 1942. It was turned over to the county 20 years later. The airport was also the site of SCCA National Sports Car Championship races in the late 1950s. The 1956 race was won by the legendary Carroll Shelby. On July 17, 1960, NASCAR came to the airport with the Empire State 200, on a two-mile (3.2 km) course. Rex White held off Richard Petty for the win, in front of about 5,000 fans; the mediocre attendance killed any chance of making the race an annual event, as was planned. It remains the only NASCAR event ever held in the Hudson Valley. In 2016 the airport began a three-year project to move one of the runways a thousand feet (300 m) to the north and change its angle by 8 degrees in order to provide a buffer zone at the ends required by the FAA for emergency landings (previously, the runway had ended at the Wallkill River). along with a new taxiway adjacent to it. The project is mostly being paid for by the FAA; the state and county have contributed 10% of the $33 million cost. Since a pond had to be filled in for the project, it was necessary under state law to create a replacement wetland, which cost $1 million. See also List of airports in New York References External links Orange County page for airport Orange County Airport (MGJ) at NYSDOT Airport Directory Airports in New York (state) 1942 establishments in New York (state) Airports established in 1942 Transportation buildings and structures in Orange County, New York