We are ecstatic about the new airport project coming to light in Kansas City. The airport has needed a drastic overhaul for many years. This change will add more value to our city and your homes.
The image of a new Kansas City International Airport (Code: MCI) came more clearly into focus recently with updated renderings and a project timeline. The new designs also provided more detail on the amenities that will go into the single-terminal modernization project.
Kansas Citians had been waiting for nearly a year to see what the new $1.3 billion terminal will look like, and they finally got a look at the renderings Thursday morning during the a Kansas City Council committee meeting.
Jordan Pierce, an architect with Skidmore Owings & Merrill LLP, presented the updated designs for the 1 million-square-foot terminal, which will have 39 gates, and a planned parking garage.
The new design includes a water feature as a nod to the “City of Fountains.” The feature currently is envisioned as being along the drive up to the terminal, but other locations are possible. The first presentation of renderings in October showed a fountain as the focal point of the terminal’s arrivals and departures halls, but the Chicago-based architecture firm has determined that space was needed for other purposes.
The new renderings also include other, more subtle nods to Kansas City, such as limestone being featured in the check-in hall.
“We want it to be a light, open, airy space, and to feel inviting,” Pierce said at a meeting of the City Council’s airport committee. “We also want it to feel like it’s a piece of Kansas City.”
Beyond the check-in, an area dubbed the “town hall” will include retail, dining and a performance space. Instead of the current model, with eight Starbucks stores scattered across the various gates, Pierce said people would have more food and shopping options. The renderings also include a new feature: a 4,500-square-foot business lounge for frequent-fliers.
As expected, the individual gate lounges will have much more space than the current layout. Pierce said the lounges would be about 35 percent larger and include in-seat charging for electronic devices.
Kansas City Council members were pleased with the new designs, but requested more ties to the airport’s location.
“I’d like to see some uniqueness to it,” Councilman Dan Fowler said. “We want something that, when you step off the plane, you know you’re in Kansas City. You’re leaving the airport, you know you’re in Kansas City.”
The old Terminal A will be torn down this fall, with construction on the new project slated to begin in 2019, after the environmental review process is complete. Construction of the new terminal is expected to continue through 2022.
Pierce said the airport would be designed for future growth, from installing high-throughput security devices to expanding passenger drop-off to four lanes.
“This shows momentum on the airport is certainly growing,” Councilman Jermaine Reed said.
Maryland-based Edgemoor Infrastructure & Real Estate LLC is the developer of the project.
Article courtesy of the Kansas City Business Journal.
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