Old airport terminal on its way out

GORDON WEIXEL, Bismarck Tribune

Published Tuesday, May 31, 2005 

The new Bismarck Municipal Airport terminal has been greeting travelers for three weeks now and Northern Improvement is in the process of tearing down the old terminal.

With the exception of some grumbling over the lack of concessions and seating on the public pickup side of the building, everything has gone fairly smoothly, according to airport manager Greg Haug. Inside the new $15 million terminal, fine tuning of various systems continues and there is still some trim and finishing touches being put up by workers.

"We are working on some type of coffee kiosk on the outside of the screening check point. Actually we had even bee talking about doing that for the old building," Haug says. "There were some contractual things we had to get squared away first. But now, that's taken care of and we're looking to put out an RFP (Request for Proposal) for that service in the near future."

The state-of-the-art baggage security system has had a few hiccups, Haug points out. "We're finding it might not be the greatest idea to just throw soft-sided bags with a lot of straps or backpacks with straps on the conveyor belts," he says. "There are corners they have to go around in the system and they have a tendency to get caught up and stuck. We're going to purchase some plastic tubs to put those types of bags in which should solve the problem. Mainly it's just minor operational stuff and the adjustments are being made."

There is still some new advertising to be place and the more features are being added to the information display system including the weather for inbound and outgoing flights.

Demolition of the terminal which served the airport for over 40 years began last week. It started with the most recent addition, the terminal baggage pickup section, being separated and carted off for use elsewhere. Haug explains, the removal of the addition for future use was part of Northern Improvement's bid. "They took it across the air side part of the field, much the same way they moved the Capital Aviation building. I watched them move it down the taxiway and across the field at the north end of the airport and then east, until it disappeared," he describes.

Work is proceeding on the inside of the old terminal as Northern Improvement takes it apart piece-by-piece, separating the iron, copper and concrete with plans to recycle as much of the material as possible. Once the terminal is down, Haug figures in the next two to three weeks, the surface will be prepared for a concrete ramp which will serve the south side of the new terminal.

There is still a lot of work on the outside of the new terminal which is expected to take most of the summer and extend into fall. Parking lots on the north side of the terminal are being completed for use of the rent-a-car agencies with curb and gutter put in last week awaiting asphalt and a sidewalk which will provide access from the terminal to the lot.

An employee parking lot will be built on the south side of the terminal and screen walls will be put up on the north and south sides of the terminal. There is also a lot of landscaping that has to be done.

Parking directly in front of the building was increased dramatically over what was available in front of the old terminal. While the shuttle and taxi lane is work well, people are still parking directly in front of the doors, obstructing those using the sidewalk leading to and from the parking lot.

"We were hoping people would park on either side of the elevated sidewalk, because there is plenty of room for unloading," Haug says. "But they have been parking right in front of the doors, so we'll have to see what we can do to discourage that."

There is still some furniture for the terminal which has yet to arrive. Some will be taken upstairs near the check point to allow those waiting for arrivals a place to sit.

"But we really don't want to encourage people to sit outside the checkpoint waiting. If we put all sorts of seating there it will become an obstruction for those leaving the boarding area.," Haug says. "A certain amount of seating is important and I think we'll add a little more to what is already there."

With the battle of getting the terminal open over, Haug has been able to return his efforts to his daily administration of the airport. He has had some time to watch the comings and goings of the public at the new terminal.

"It's fun to watch them, see them marveling at the sky painting on the ceiling and the river running across the floor of the new terminal," Haug says.

(Reach reporter Gordon Weixel at 250-8255 or gordon.weixel@bismarcktribune.com.)