"Indianapolis Airport expansion seen as windfall"

Thursday, May 13, 2004

Airport expansion seen as windfall
By Bruce C. Smith
The Indianapolis (IN) Star
 

Airport and local government officials say the construction of a $1 billion
passenger terminal at Indianapolis International Airport will help Hamilton
County and the entire metropolitan area compete for new business.

"This will project a new image to people coming to our city and the whole
region," said John Kish, director of the construction project at the airport
on the Westside of Indianapolis.

He told the Carmel Clay Chamber of Commerce on Wednesday that the new
passenger terminal will give the entire metropolitan area a fresh gateway
for business and leisure travelers.

The building is shaped to create a symbolic threshold to the metro region,
with a large central space that has been dubbed the civic plaza. Passengers
would pass through the plaza between the airplane gates and out to a parking
garage. And the room is designed to include artwork and giant displays of
flight information.

While the price tag may be a lot of money to spend, Carmel Mayor Jim
Brainard said "it's a good investment because we have to compete with other
communities if we want our city to expand and grow."

And most of the cost is not from tax funds but is paid by the airlines and
passengers using the facility.

Opening of the terminal had been planned for early in 2007 but has been
pushed back to late 2008.

That timetable was changed by the terrorists attacks of Sept. 11, Kish said.

To increase the economic impact of the construction work, the Airport
Authority has contracts with 133 companies for the building work, including
many local companies.

And the regional impact of the new airport terminal will be increased as it
spurs development of a metropolitan transportation system, both Kish and
Brainard said.

Design of the new terminal includes space for people movers at the airport
and a light rail or similar transportation corridor from Indianapolis
Downtown to the airport and westward into Hendricks County. A regional
transportation network with a corridor to Hamilton County also is an early
proposal.

"Transportation is to be the key, and as a region we're behind other,
comparable cities that have put their projects on line," Brainard said.


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