Terminal project ready for takeoff

Jul. 2—The Pullman-Moscow Regional Airport expects to break ground on a new terminal building this summer, bringing to fruition a plan that's been in place for about a decade.

"We're still waiting on a couple of pieces of funding, but we'd like to get in the ground by the end of this month or beginning of August," said Executive Director Tony Bean. "Things are starting to get very real, very fast."

The project has an estimated cost of about $61 million. It's been on the airport's capital improvement list since about 2012, but had to wait until the $154 million expansion and realignment of the airport runway was finished.

The new runway opened in 2019, but contractors are just now completing some last-minute drainage and earthwork tasks.

"We have about six weeks of work left and we'll finally be done," Bean said. "We'll roll from one project right into the other."

Given the increased passenger traffic at the airport, he said, a new terminal is a must.

Passenger volume increased from about 79,000 per year in 2013 to 138,000 in 2019, before COVID-19 hit. With three daily flights to Seattle and a new Boise flight, that growth is expected to continue in the coming years.

"We knew we were going to need a new terminal when we started the runway," Bean said. "We're operating in a closet right now. We can't expand the parking here, and we have fewer seats in our (boarding) area than there are on the plane."

The existing terminal was built in 1989. It has about 8,800 square feet of space, with a limited baggage claim area and no room for a restaurant or concessions. Passengers also have to walk outside to get on and off the planes.

The new terminal will have about 40,000 square feet, initially.

"We need 55,000, but 40,000 is about what we can afford right now," Bean said. "But as long as we keep the building flexible, so it can grow with the community, we'll be OK. We knew we weren't going to get everything in the first cut."

The new terminal will be located near the west end of the airport property, across Airport Road from the All Fabrication and Supply shop.

It will be a two-story structure, with one interior jetway to begin with and room to expand that to three, so passengers can board flights from inside the terminal. There also will be room for concessions and possibly a restaurant.

"The parking lot will be almost three times what we have now," Bean said. "And it will all be paid parking. You'll drive through the gate and pull a ticket."

The building will be connected to city sewer, rather than the septic system the airport currently operates. Cell service may be better as well, since the new terminal will be at a higher elevation.

Because it's an entirely new facility in a new location, there also won't be any interruption in airport operations during the construction phase.

"We'll fence the contractor in and as soon as the new terminal is built, we'll move equipment over," Bean said.

Hoffman Construction, with offices in Seattle and Portland, is the general contractor on the project. It's been soliciting bids from subcontractors. When those are opened next week, it will be a little clearer what can be built now and what will have to wait for a future phase.

"It's a tough time to be bidding anything, but we can't put it off," Bean said.

Pullman and Moscow are contributing $2 million each in local funds to the project. Whitman and Latah counties are chipping in another $400,000 each, as is the University of Idaho. Washington State University is contributing $600,000. Bean expects the state of Idaho to put in about $100,000, and he's still waiting to hear how much the state of Washington will contribute.

Most of the remaining funds will come from a multitude of sources, including various Federal Aviation Administration grants and federal stimulus funds.

Just last week, for example, the airport received a $1 million grant for use on the new baggage sorting and delivery area. In April, it received a $6 million grant for part of the apron area in front of the terminal, where the planes will park.

"There's different pots of money for different things, and every dime of it gets watched and audited," Bean said.

The new terminal should be ready by the end of 2023. That's right about the time Alaska Airlines will switch from the Bombardier Q400 turboprop planes that currently fly into Pullman to new Embraer 175 twin-engine jets.

Getting to this point has taken years of hard work and planning, Bean said, but it will benefit the broader Palouse community for decades to come.

"We started this whole project by asking the community, 'What do you want? What amenities do we need in this building?' " he said. "We live here. We want to make sure we support people in this region and support the things they need for their quality of life."

Spence may be contacted at bspence@lmtribune.com or (208) 791-9168.