EL DORADO -- After nearly two years of consideration and a two-hour-plus meeting Monday, the El Dorado Airport Commission voted to move forward with a plan to build a new terminal building at South Arkansas Regional Airport at Goodwin Field.
The commission engaged in a lengthy discussion after a presentation by architect Blake Dunn, who laid out a comparative analysis for options to renovate the existing terminal or build a new one.
Dunn, president of CADM Architecture Inc., estimated that it would cost nearly $2.1 million to build a new terminal and $1.95 million to renovate the old one.
Commissioners were surprised to learn they had been discussing how best to update the World War II-era terminal building for nearly two years.
Dunn informed them that the matter has been on the table since October 2013, when the commission first retained CADM to develop a renovation plan for the existing terminal.
Dunn provided a recap and timeline, telling airport commissioners that CADM completed a master renovation plan and presented it to them in June 2014.
The plan consisted of five major areas of improvement: building envelope/mechanical system replacement, interior, exterior, electrical and plumbing.
Commissioners took the proposal under advisement in 2014. Later, they directed Dunn to investigate costs for new construction.
Dunn presented the new construction plan in May. The work called for a smaller terminal of 6,000 to 6,200 square feet, downsizing by about 3,000 square feet from the existing terminal but still meeting the needs of the airport.
Commissioners said at the time that they needed to digest and study the information and were to have reconvened in two weeks to make a decision.
However, scheduling conflicts pushed the planned meeting to Monday, when Dunn updated the cost projections.
Dunn reminded commissioners Monday that the improvement effort for the terminal has three goals: to address ongoing building systems and maintenance issues, upgrade the arrival-and-departure experiences for air travelers and maintain the airport as an attractive gateway into the city.
He said the airport commission has done its due diligence in weighing which option best meets those three goals.
"You've had some major considerations to take into account, and you've had to apply those considerations to the existing building or to a new building," Dunn said.
Subjective considerations listed by Dunn included architectural significance, gateway image and historic/nostalgic "contribution."
Objective considerations were energy efficiency, maintenance costs, design efficiency and building performance.
Commissioners Scott Cowling and Alan Whatley spoke in favor of building a new terminal.
Cowling, who was not a member of the airport commission when the initial renovation plan was presented, said he had had time to review the information, which touched on intrusive water, moisture, vapors and odors in the roof, floors and exterior walls.
"You would have to tear everything out except the existing walls and slab, and then replace the existing wall and slab?" Cowling asked.
"You would have to seal the opening and find out everywhere that's happening and address it," Dunn said.
Referring to the cost projection to renovate the existing building, Commissioner Nate Evers said, "That would be one bitter pill to swallow when you talk about a 70-year-old building, and you still have problems."
Cowling told Dunn that elements of the city's oil, gas and timber industries should be incorporated into the architectural design of the new building.
But not every commissioner was ready to move forward with the plan to build anew.
The vote was 5-1, with Commissioner Mickey Murfee voting against a motion for new construction and Commissioner Carl Garrett abstaining.
Murfee focused on the historical preservation of the terminal building, saying that he had spoken to members of the community who wanted to save it.
Murfee said he has been trying to speak with state preservation officials about the matter.
"I don't think there's urgency here. We've waited two years," Murfee said.
"And this has gone on long enough," Teague responded.
Murfee also said that he had spoken to the manager of a comparable airport in the state, telling commissioners that the terminal building there had experienced similar issues with water leaks and seepage.
He said the problem was addressed with applications of sealants and coatings -- a project funded by a bond issue.
Additionally, Murfee expressed concern about historic preservation issues that could possibly arise within the U.S. Department of Transportation and federal grant money that has been awarded over the years to make improvements.
Garrett made similar statements, telling the group that he had heard there were restrictions tied to state grant money that is spent on the terminal building.
"It's in their contract that you can't tear the building down for 10 or 15 years or something like that," Garrett said.
Garrett made statements indicating that he was reluctant to downsize to a smaller terminal, although Dunn said much of the space on the second floor of the current terminal is not used.
Teague said City Attorney Henry Kinslow had researched for restrictions in the deed to the facility and did not find any.
"If the city attorney says we're in the clear, then that's good enough for me," Whatley said.
Mayor Frank Hash said he has heard from prominent members of the community who support the construction of a new facility.
Hash pointed to Cowling's comments about the architectural design, saying that components of the city's traditional industries are evident in the El Dorado Conference Center and the conceptual design of a master renovation plan for the El Dorado Municipal Auditorium.
The mayor motioned toward design concepts Dunn presented for a new airport terminal building, saying the concepts are in the same vein as those for the other two municipal buildings.
State Desk on 07/29/2015