C.R. airport terminal expansion, remodeling on schedule

CEDAR RAPIDS -- Despite some weather-related delays, a $7.2 million passenger terminal renovation at The Eastern Iowa Airport is progressing toward completion in the fall of next year.

Airport Operations Director Sara Mau said passengers will experience a  return to air travel as it was before the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

"They will see the old days of aviation when they would take their bag to the ticket counter and leave it there, rather than having to take it to another area for inspection," Mau said.

A new $4.4 million baggage-handling system will remove the federal Transportation Security Administration's baggage screening process from the passenger terminal lobby where it was installed after 9/11. Airline personnel will place baggage on a moving conveyor belt that will carry it to the screening machines in a secure area of the terminal.

The TSA is picking up the $2,917,250 tab for the security-related portion of the bag inspection system and the Cedar Rapids Airport Commission will pay for the remaining $1,511,093. A 10,000-square-foot addition to the terminal will house a central baggage makeup area with a carousel similar to those used by passengers to retrieve their luggage when they arrive at their destination.

"Installing that carousel is the next phase in the project," said Dave Kapler, a principal with Foth Infrastructure Environment in Cedar Rapids, which is supervising the remodeling project. "Everything also is going well for the last phase, which is the installation of the TSA baggage-screening equipment and conveyor belts as well as the upgrade of the ticket counters."

Kapler said all of the airlines serving the airport will get their baggage from the central luggage makeup area. He said that will replace an existing system where each airline handles its baggage separately and often without protection from inclimate weather.

The terminal remodeling and expansion is much more visible to passengers than last year's $46.8 million reconstruction of the airport's main runway and intersection with the secondary runway. Mau said moving all the airline ticket counters to the west end of the terminal and removing the TSA baggage-screening machines will open up space in the terminal lobby.

"We're getting ready to kick off a master plan as well as some of our terminal continuity studies where we will look at various options for facility growth and the footprint of our terminal," Mau said. "It will be a good slate for us to look at different options and move forward as time and technologies change."

The 25-year-old passenger terminal, dedicated in 1986, has undergone behind-the-scenes remodeling in recent years, including new boilers and heating, ventilating and air-conditioning upgrades as well as installation of energy-efficient lighting. Mau said those upgrades, as well as remodeling of the C concourse two years ago, will enable the airport to meet the needs of the traveling public without considering a major expansion or construction of a new terminal. 

"The terminal has been kept very well over the last 25 years and the structure is in good condition," she said. "It's nice that we can look at additional options within the current terminal."

Airport Director Tim Bradshaw is excited about that next phase of the terminal's life.

""It will give us an opportunity to take advantage of new technologies," Bradshaw said. "The security checkpoint is narrow, and we need to look at expanding it to accommodate more equipment. We also need to look at developing more food and beverage concessions after the checkpoint."

Mau said changes involving the security checkpoint also likely will involve remodeling and expansion of the B concourse. She said the master plan, which will involve input from the public, will likely include specific "triggers" over the next when changes will be needed to accommodate additional airlines or passengers.

The master plan, which looks at five-, 10- and 20-year benchmarks, was last updated in 2004 at a cost of $275,000.