GRAND ISLAND, Neb. — A committee gathered Tuesday to begin plans for a new airport terminal at the Central Nebraska Regional Airport.
"We're starting a new chapter with the airport," airport Executive Director Mike Olson said late Tuesday morning during a special meeting at the Grand Island Public Library. "Every airport director's dream is to build a terminal."
High passenger demand has created the need in Grand Island.
"Passengers increased 217 percent over a three-year period, while nationally the increase was only 8 percent," said Ron McNeill, the senior air service consultant for Mead & Hunt, the architectural and engineering firm that is preparing the new terminal plan and design.
"There's been tremendous growth, which you'll continue to see," McNeill told the committee and three members of the airport board.
Hall County Airport Authority board Chairwoman Lynne Werner said "tailwinds" have pushed the number of passengers using the local airport from 10,000 when she started on the board seven years ago, to 47,000 this past year.
Revenues for airlines serving Grand Island jumped 432 percent versus the 18 percent airline revenue increase nationally, McNeill said.
But as amazing as the growth has been, he said there's potential to grow even more.
The current terminal can't adequately handle passenger volume now, let alone accommodate a situation where two flights board simultaneously, the consultants said.
They estimate the existing 11,000-square-foot terminal needs to be 28,000 square feet for current demand, 31,000 square feet for 2015 and 45,000 square feet to serve the public through 2030.
The consultants showed the layout of the current airport, praised its access to major roadways and showed limitations to where a new terminal could be built based on flight sight lines, gas lines, electrical lines and various other utilities and setbacks required. Additional parking space will also be needed, the consultants said.
The committee members will meet with the consultants again in April and June to give input on what amenities the new terminal should have.
"We want to make an impression," Olson said of the terminal's impact.
"This is something the community has needed for a long, long time," former mayor Ken Gnadt said of the terminal.
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