Pensacola fronting half of the $4 million design of a new airport terminal
Pensacola is moving forward with a $4 million budget to design the Pensacola International Airport's passenger terminal expansion, but it will have to pay half those costs after securing only $2 million in state funding.
The Pensacola City Council unanimously approved a $4 million budget and selection of EXP U.S. Services, Inc. to design the new airport terminal and oversee the construction and inspection of the expansion terminal.
The project will add more passenger capacity to the airport's terminal, including five new gates for airlines.
Pensacola Mayor D.C. Reeves said the project is critical for the airport.
The city had been waiting until all funding for the project was in place from the Florida Department of Transportation with a plan to do designs this year and begin construction in 2024 or 2025, but so far, the city has only received half of the funding needed for the terminal design.
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Regardless, Reeves said he wanted to move forward with the project and fund the other half out of the airport's fund reserves because the airport is in critical need of expansion.
"That was one of our first priorities getting in because we knew that without design, we have no terminal," Reeves said, speaking at his press conference Tuesday. "So, if we were sitting here today and the design had not started, we're one more year behind on the terminal."
Reeves said while the design moves forward, he will be working to lobby for funding for the construction portion of the project, which could be somewhere in the range of $70 million.
"I don't want this design to be completed and it starts to collect dust while we wait on potential funding for construction," Reeves said.
Reeves pointed out that the Pensacola International Airport's number of annual passengers has increased by a million travelers over the past decade.
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"A million more people going through these same 11 Gates than we had 10 years ago," Reeves said. "We haven't seen any more gates; we just see a million more people a year."
With the vote Thursday, airport staff will negotiate a final contract with EXP U.S. Services, Inc., including a final price, and Reeves will be able to sign it without requiring another council vote.
This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Pensacola International Airport terminal design may cost $4 million
