Columbus airport authority outlines plans for new John Glenn terminal
The Columbus Regional Airport Authority has publicly outlined some of the specifications for a new terminal at John Glenn Columbus International Airport.
On Thursday the authority finished taking bids for a master architect to design the terminal, and a document soliciting those bids outlines what the organization is looking for.
Soliciting bids is one of the first steps in a years-long process, and the authority's board of directors must approve the new terminal before it's built.
The plan for the future John Glenn terminal
If it gets the green light, the future terminal would be slightly larger than the current one, and a new garage would significantly expand the airport's parking space.
The airport authority wants a roughly 900,000-square-foot structure with 35 to 40 narrow body gates (at least two for international flights) and a multi-story parking garage with around 5,000 spaces, according to a document soliciting bids.
The airport's current terminal has 31 gates, opened in 1958 and was redone several years ago. The parking garage has just under 4,000 spaces.
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"Right now, we're at the point where investing in aging infrastructure is no longer sustainable," airport authority spokesperson Sarah McQuaide said.
The airport authority wants a ground transportation system with wayfinding services for the terminal, and the garage and is looking for an environmentally sustainable design, the document says.
A new terminal is likely years away, McQuaide said, although she was not immediately able to provide a timeline.
"This is still one of the initial phases," she said.
Artist renderings providing a picture of the new terminal won't be available until well after an architect is selected, McQuaide said.
The solicitation documents "don't paint a very comprehensive picture of what (a new terminal) would look like," she said. "That would be what we hope to gain from this process."
The existing terminal will be demolished once the new one is operational, the document says.
pcooley@dispatch.com
@PatrickACooley
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Columbus airport's plans call for new CMH terminal
