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Travelers, community leaders and area businesses have looked forward to it for years. Not even a steady rain could stop the celebration.
Forced indoors because of the weather, dozens attended Thursday's ceremonial groundbreaking of the new terminal at Wichita's Mid-Continent Airport.
“The new terminal will be the airline gateway to the state of Kansas,” Mayor Carl Brewer said. “It will serve as a front window into our city and our history. Visitors will know that Wichita gave birth to aircraft manufacturing and that more aircraft have been built here than anywhere in the world.”
The new $160 million terminal will be built just northwest of the existing building. When complete, the terminal will include:
- Ticketing and baggage claim on the roadway entry level with significantly more space than the current terminal
- Upper level concourse with departure lounges, concessions and expanded passenger security screening to meet TSA’s latest and potential future standards
- Twelve (12) boarding gates in the base bid package, each equipped with a passenger boarding bridge with pre-conditioned air and ground power for aircraft. However, the facility is designed so that up to 16 planes can be served from the base building with loading bridges, depending upon the aircraft fleet mix
- Stairs and elevators close to the main ticket lifts with easy access to the ramp for ground boarding operations
- Outbound passenger baggage handling systems with inline explosives detection security screening
- Centralized outbound baggage make-up room with two large slope plate make-up devices
- Enhanced pre-security and post-security concessions and passenger services, with the majority of food/beverage and retail concessions located near the gates
- New aircraft apron, with deicing collection system, to accommodate a varied fleet mix of Group II and III aircraft, as well as occasional Group IV aircraft
- New terminal roadway and entrance feature, including clear, modern signage, and separate commercial vehicle lanes
- Covered curbside and covered crosswalks to parking and rental cars
- Separate roadway for building service area and loading dock, with security screening for products and personnel entering back-of-house areas.
- New four-level parking garage with all spaces covered located directly across from the terminal (separate budget)
- Rental car service counters and lobby adjacent to the parking garage, plus covered rental car ready/return spaces (separate budget)
- New Park & Ride economy shuttle parking lot (separate budget)
- New communications, life safety and security systems
The new terminal is scheduled to open in early 2015.
The total pricetag is $160 million. Of that amount, $37 million has gone to design work. The project is funded with airport passenger and aviation user fees, not tax dollars.
Recent projects have been complete in preparation for the new terminal. They include:
- The new Park & Ride economy shuttle lot
- A new Air Cargo Building
- Construction of aircraft parking aprons around the new building site
Construction of the terminal itself begins after a contentious and lengthy bidding process.
The lowest bid was rejected after failing to meet requirements that part of the work be done by disadvantaged business enterprises (DBE) which include minority-owned companies.
Multiple appeals followed with the contract going to a partnership between Key Construction and Walbridge of Detroit. Their bid was $101.5 million.
The new terminal was designed by a team led by HNTB Architecture of Kansas City.
The current building was built in 1954, with several upgrades and additions over the years. It's last major renovation cost $6 million in 1989.
Most of the current terminal will be demolished when the new terminal is fully operational. Parts of the building will remain intact for eventual conversion into offices for Customs & Border Protection and the Transportation Security Administration.
Mid-Continent is the largest and busiest airport in Kansas.