GARY, Ind. (AP) — Gary airport officials say they’re seeking money to keep the facility’s air control tower open following federal budget cuts.

The tower is scheduled to close June 15 because of the cuts. Airport officials have said the closure won’t affect safety, but Gary Jet Center owner Wil Davis disagrees.

Davis tells The Times that closing the tower also will affect efforts to market the airport as the region’s third major air hub behind Chicago’s O’Hare and Midway airports.

Davis says the control tower helped attract Boeing Corp.’s corporate jet fleet to the airport. Boeing is negotiating an extension of its hangar lease.

Airport Authority member Cornell Collins says the airport is working to find the estimated $350,000 to $400,000 a year needed to keep the tower open.