A study under way on the future of the Greenwood Municipal Airport could reshape the County Line Road corridor of the Johnson County city.

The Greenwood Board of Aviation Commissioners has hired Indianapolis-based consulting firm RW Armstrong to assess operations of the airport that was built in the 1940s amid open fields but now is surrounded by sprawling commercial and office buildings.

The city-owned airport is located just south of County Line Road and just west of Emerson Avenue.

Officials are exploring the possibility of moving the airport to the city’s east side, which would open up the 230-acre site — itself a prime location — to development that could expand the medical office build-out occurring in the County Line Road and Emerson Avenue area.

“Our community’s success has actually been a detriment to the airport,” said Jeffrey Colvin, president of the Board of Aviation Commissioners, which is a four-member panel — it currently has one vacancy — appointed by Mayor Charles Henderson.

“We’re glad it (the growth) occurred; we’re just a victim of our own success, basically.”

The study will explore three main options for the airport, Colvin said: leave it alone; expand its single runway; or relocate and build a larger airport.

An initial report is expected in the early part of next year.

Officials are exploring whether business professionals in Central Indiana would utilize the Greenwood airport if it had a longer runway — the current runway is 4,900 feet — that could accommodate larger, corporate-type aircraft, as well as some cargo planes.

It’s mostly recreational fliers who currently use the airport, which offers flight instruction; there are also a few corporate and state of Indiana planes based there.

With the study in its infancy, Colvin said no sites have been chosen for a possible relocation. The entire process, should the airport be relocated, could take 10 years or longer.

Federal Aviation Administration officials are aware of the study, Colvin said, which is being funded by the airport and does not involve city of Greenwood money.

The airport is city-owned and relies on hangar fees and other user income, not property taxes.