"Devils Lake, N.D., airport to build new terminal"

Thursday, August 5, 2004

Devils Lake, N.D., airport to build new terminal
The Grand Forks (ND) Herald


The Devils Lake Airport is undergoing a major facelift, and not a minute
too soon, officials say.

"In the first six months of this year, boardings were up 64 percent,"
said Airport Manager Kenny Koehn. "And last month, we more than doubled
our boardings compared with the previous year. So things are looking
good."

Handling the extra fliers won't be a problem once the new terminal is
built. Construction on the estimated $2 million project is expected to
start this week and should be completed by May.

Although a larger terminal was needed, instead of expanding the existing
structure, the Federal Aviation Administration mandated the building of
a new terminal.

About four years ago, the FAA determined that the Ramsey National Bank
Hanger, Wakefield Flight Service and Foss-Meier Flight Service and the
airport terminal all were too close to the runway, Koehn said.

"The runway was there, and they put in a new landing system, and rather
than put in a new runway, the FAA gave a waiver to the businesses and to
the terminal," he said.

Now, the FAA has started a program to try to clear up all of its waivers
that affect air space.

"So, they were willing to help us financially to buy out and relocate
the various businesses and to build a new terminal at the airport,"
Koehn said. The businesses already have been bought out and relocated.

Because the FAA has mandated the changes to the airport, they are paying
the majority of the costs, Koehn said.

The FAA will pay about 70 percent of the $900,000 for the new terminal.
And they're picking up 95 percent of the estimated $1.2 million that
will be spent to construct a new concrete apron in front of the
terminal, an access road and a parking lot.

The remainder will be paid using money the airport receives from renters
and other services. And the city of Devils Lake also is helping with the
matching funds to the tune of about $300,000.

Because money from the FAA isn't paid in one lump sum, the city is
financing the construction. "As the FAA funds come in, we will reimburse
the city," Koehn said.

The FAA also is putting up 95 percent of the cost to do an ongoing
environmental study and wildlife and archeological studies. The studies
will cost about $140,000.

The new 6,700 square-foot-terminal will replace the current building
that has about 3,700 square feet, said Koehn, who's been at the airport
for 20 years. The current terminal was built in 1975 and was added on to
in the 1980s.

Between the increase in security and boardings, the terminal was
definitely crowded.

"There's not enough room to have a great deal of passengers in the
holding area, so we've been screening some of the passengers and putting
them on the plane if we had extra bookings," he said.

Koehn said the increase in boardings is because of a switch in airlines.
In September 2003, Mesaba Airlines, an affiliate of Northwest Airlines,
replaced Great Lakes Airlines.

"With Great Lakes, you had to buy a ticket to Minneapolis and buy
another ticket when you got there," Koehn said. "We have a through-fare
now, which makes us more competitive."

They also didn't have any office space in the building for the
Transportation Security Administration, so they currently are in an
adjacent building.

The current terminal will be used until the new one is opened. Then, the
old one will be torn down. Johnson Laffen Galloway Architects Ltd. of
Grand Forks designed the new terminal.


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