Louisville International Airport Plans for New Gates, Terminal Update

January 1, 2004

Airport Plans for New Gates, Terminal Update
Louisville Courier Journal, KY


Travelers at Louisville International Airport will see significant changes in 
2004: Six new regional jet gates will open, construction will begin on a 
225-room Wyndham hotel, and a significant part of the $41 million terminal 
renovation will be completed.

Hotel construction will break ground in the spring, about the time the regional 
jet gates are scheduled to open, allowing people to walk directly from the 
concourse onto airplanes. Travelers on regional jets — smaller planes that 
hold 50 to 75 passengers that airlines are increasingly using — now must step 
outside, sometimes in the rain or snow, to board the aircraft.

Meanwhile, the airport authority board will continue renovating the terminal 
— ripping up old carpet, replacing old windows, and giving the airport an 
updated look — while also moving homeowners affected by airport noise. The 
airport plans to ask the Kentucky General Assembly, as it has in past years, 
for $20 million to move residents, though getting it will be difficult because 
of budget deficits.

Skip Miller, the airport executive director, joked yesterday at the airport's 
annual year-end briefing that he would take money from the legislature in any 
form, "cash, credit cards, check."

"We still have a big job remaining in relocation," he said.

Since the airport began moving families affected by noise in 1994 because of 
the airport expansion, 1,674 families out of 2,179 who were eligible have been 
relocated, said Burt Deutsch, who is overseeing the relocation program. 

Last year, the airport made buyout offers to 138 families, moved 96 and has 505 
families still eligible for relocation. Deutsch said people will be moved as 
money becomes available, either from local, state or the federal government.

He said getting the last remaining families moved will be a priority for not 
only the airport board but for Metro Mayor Jerry Abramson and the city.

The airport also will have to deal with a potential significant financial issue 
this year — paying the verdict in the Louisville Forge & Gear Works lawsuit.

Louisville Forge was one of about 150 businesses in the way of the airport 
expansion project, which was announced in 1988. The company's buildings were 
razed to make room for a new runway.

Forge didn't think it was fairly compensated for its forced move (it later 
relocated to Georgetown, Ky.) and in October, after a 12-year-battle, a jury 
agreed, awarding the Forge $21.3 million.

Because the airport made a big advance payment in 1993 to help the business 
move, the airport won't have to pay all of the $21.3 million verdict. However, 
Miller said yesterday that lawyers for the airport predict it may have to pay 
up to $12 million when a judge makes the final decision on the verdict sometime 
this year.

Miller said the airport doesn't have cash on hand — and likely will have to 
issue bonds to cover the cost.

Even if the airport must go into debt to pay the verdict, it will not have a 
significant impact on the airport's financial health, Miller said.

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