It took a few years of saving and $3 million in federal funding, but the Knox County Regional Airport, a two-runway operation, is building a new terminal. Airport officials will break ground this afternoon on what is expected to be a one-year project.

Right now the airport, which flies scheduled commercial planes only to Boston, is lacking glitz. The terminal is made of two double-wide mobile homes. The trailers' floors are not stable enough to hold current TSA security equipment. In addition, the terminal has frequent power outages, water leakage, sewage backups and other problems.

The new terminal, which will cost approximately $4 million, will be a more spacious structure with 9,758 square feet - up from about 2,500. The new terminal will have space for security equipment, holding space for 30 people, the capacity for a restaurant and more.

The Knox County commissioners agreed to have the county pick up 12 percent of the construction tab - $574,580, which it took from its undesignated surplus to avoid having to borrow the money and burden taxpayers with the costs.

The overall financial impact of a new terminal, including general operating costs, is projected to cost each taxpayer in Knox County about 97 cents in 2011, according to the Knox County Regional Airport business plan. That number is projected to dwindle until 2017 when officials believe the airport will once again become profitable.

The state of Maine will pick up about 2 percent of the construction costs. The majority of the funding, about 85 percent, is from the Federal Aviation Administration's Airport Improvement Funds.