HIGHFILL -- The Northwest Arkansas National Airport board last week authorized Fentress Architects to continue design work for phase 1 of a new western concourse at the terminal.
"This is definitely a long-term project," said Aaron Burkes, airport CEO. "Full design will take 12 to 18 months, but it is unlikely that we would start actual construction before 2025 or 2026 -- all dependent upon the pace of growth in enplanements and the availability of funding. We just want to make sure we are prepared in the event growth takes off above expectations again."
The building will be 58,000 square feet, split into two levels and will provide five new gates and, perhaps, outdoor patios. Both levels will have rooms for passengers to wait, concessions and restrooms, according to Nick Fondano, director of construction at Northwest National.
"We're getting a much more upgraded customer experience in those new gates," noted Mike Johnson, who represents Fayetteville on the airport board.
Preliminary estimates put the total cost to build and equip phase 1 at $45.6 million. Fentress has completed conceptual plans, conceptual aircraft parking layouts, exterior design, preliminary cost estimates and other work. The plans take into account the current and projected operational needs for gates and apron space in order to accommodate projected growth, including new carriers.
The phased approach will allow continued use of the B gates during construction, remove some inadequate and outdated existing gates and allow operations to continue at phase 1 of the western concourse when the phase 2 expansion takes place.
Project goals include maximizing gate capacity at the terminal, providing new gates for existing and potential new low-cost carriers and providing a passenger experience with a "sense of place."
Access to aircraft outside the terminal will be via a modular, enclosed walkway 10 feet wide and 390 feet long to protect passengers from the weather. No structural foundations will required. The sections of the walkway will be bolted directly to the concrete. Retractable connectors will be used between the walkway and the ramps used to board the aircraft.
Brian Burke, board chairman, said an earlier study to build the entire B concourse as a single project came with an astronomical price tag. Burke said he was pleased with the new phased-in approach.
"I think that what you all have done in terms of trying to increase gate capacity, make it economically efficient and make it look good and work with the existing campus, I think is just fantastic," Burke said. "I'm really psyched about this."
Fentress Architects is an international design firm with studios in Denver, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Washington and Houston.
At the front of the terminal, a new arrivals lobby project is being merged with a skybridge project that links the terminal and parking deck. Airport officials expect that project will be through 60% of the design work by the second quarter of next year. A potential headwind is that materials, labor and construction costs continue to rise, a trend expected to continue into next year.
"We're projecting that the skybridge will probably be a $40 million project in 2022 just from a pure speculative standpoint of escalation," Fondano said. "It's a $2.5 to $3 million increase on that project."
Fadando said staff is working with engineers and architects to see what items might be deleted from the project to save money without changing the overall design, look, feel or function of the skybridge itself. They've come up with about $470,000 worth.
Putting the project out for bids is on hold until airport officials learn whether any additional federal money is available. That could take three to six months.