LR airport panel OKs concourse upgrades

$17.6 million job to run into 2016

Construction on a $17.6 million upgrade of the passenger concourse at Bill and Hillary Clinton National Airport/Adams Field will begin as early as March and take about a year to complete, a top airport executive said.

RELATED ARTICLE

http://www.arkansas…">Smaller airports compete for flights

The work includes new boarding bridges and gate furniture, more power outlets for passengers' personal electronics, and better Wi-Fi. The concourse also will get a new floor and roof.

Airport officials describe the work as the most significant renovation of the concourse since it opened in 1972.

The Little Rock Municipal Airport Commission, which oversees Clinton National, approved the project Tuesday after the airport staff presented a more detailed budget Tuesday than the one some commissioners saw last week.

Commissioner Bob East said he appreciated the itemized budget presented Tuesday.

"I'm happy to see the new grouping of costs," he said. "I'm satisfied with the costs and fees. I'm glad we're moving forward on this. It's something that needs to be done."

Four of the seven commissioners present -- East, Ret. Army Gen. Wesley Clark, Jim Dailey and commission Chairman Jesse Mason -- voted to go ahead with the project. Tom Schueck, Virgil Miller Jr. and Kathy Webb were absent.

The commission vote authorizes the staff to negotiate for the services and materials required to prepare the design and construction documents.

Tom Sutton, the airport's design and construction manager, said he expects the project to be designed and under construction by the second quarter of next year and to be completed by the second quarter of 2016.

Freshening the concourse is seen as a stopgap measure to provide improved passenger amenities while the airport positions itself financially to replace the concourse in the future and build on the momentum of the $69 million makeover of the passenger terminal, ticketing and baggage area, all but completed earlier this year.

The new work is divided into a half-dozen separate projects, which East said would make it possible for smaller area contractors to compete for the work.

Of the six projects, the two most expensive are the main concourse work and replacing the 12 boarding bridges, which will cost a little more than $7 million, according to airport cost estimates distributed Tuesday. The other projects include concourse data (such as flight information), security improvements ($1 million), Wi-Fi improvements ($700,000), passenger seating ($874,000) and more restroom renovations ($641,000).

The two most expensive items in the concourse work are the flooring and roof, which will cost an estimated $1.3 million and $1.1 million, respectively. Electrical connections to the seating and passenger amenities will cost nearly $1 million, according to the cost estimates.

The boarding bridges will be replaced in order of their condition, airport officials said. Four are rated as poor, four are fair and four are in good condition, they said.

A new bridge costs about $500,000, and one that will fit both the existing concourse and a new concourse will require additional modifications to the area on which it will operate, airport officials said.

Some of the estimated costs appear to be very rough. A line item for "passenger amenities" is listed with a cost of $198,000. Asked for more detail, an airport spokesman said the "amenities" were 29 trash cans, 10 smoking ash urns and six lobby benches, or a total of 45 items worth about $4,400 each.

Asked for more information, the spokesman, Shane Carter, said in an email, "The numbers are just for a preliminary budget."

"I do know that the benches will be the most expensive items and soft costs (architect and interior fees) are included," he added. "We'll come back with final numbers once bidding occurs."

Airport employees said the project initially will be paid with existing revenue. Eventually, the airport will seek reimbursement for about 95 percent of the costs from future passenger facility charges, which is the $4.50 federally mandated charge for every ticket purchased for a flight from Clinton National.

The airport collects about $4 million annually from the charge but must secure approval from the Federal Aviation Administration to spend the money.

The airport already has committed the charges annually through about 2019 on other projects. The concourse proposal would commit an additional five years of passenger facility charge revenue.

The concourse work is in addition to two other separate but related projects under construction or completed: The addition of a restroom at Gate 5 and mechanical improvements for $2.9 million, and passenger security checkpoint area roofing and repairs for $146,235.

Dailey said the terminal renovation project and now the concourse improvements appear to fit better with the difficult economic climate of air travel. Passenger traffic through the airport is down about 5 percent for the year through August, according to the latest figures from Clinton National.

Several years ago, the commission considered replacing the terminal and concourse for $300 million at a minimum, Dailey said.

"I think this is a prudent approach and we're still upgrading the facility," he said. "Fortunately, we're not strapped with that financial burden."

A section on 09/17/2014

Upcoming Events