CHANGING COURSE
DIA’S terminal is in for more than three years of construction. Here is how it will play out, and what to expect.
For frequent renovation flyers, that the kicks massive off this week below Denver International Airport’s iconic tented-roof terminal will mean three and a half years of detours around construction walls.
But amid varying levels of hassle for passengers, the $650 million Great Hall Project, which is intended in large part to keep up with recordsetting growth in passenger traffic, will require a feat of conducting akin to a large orchestra. The renovation of nearly every public space in a very active building — a 1.5 million-square-foot structure that serves as the entry point to the nation’s fifth-busiest airport — demands meticulous coordination at
every stage.
Just consider the
planned new security checkpoints.
By late 2020, project leaders estimate, the two large, snaking security lines that now dominate the lower level as an adaptation to the post-9/11 era, as well as an alternate screening point on the bridge to Concourse A, will be replaced by two modernized screening areas on the north ends of the upper floor, officially Level 6. The impetus is to make the screening lines themselves more secure and to adopt new screening setups and technology in use elsewhere that will speed up the flow.
But to make that possible, crews first need to dismantle the airline check-in counters that currently occupy those areas on the terminal’s east and west flanks. They also need to expand the floor area slightly into the building’s central atrium to make more room.
Before workers can do either of those things, however, they will need to rebuild the check-in counters that run the rest of the length of the terminal to the south — making it so that two-thirds of the current space, once reconfigured, can efficiently handle the airlines’ check-in needs.
When all is done, most passengers will leave a ticket counter, self-check-in kiosk or baggage drop on either side of the terminal, proceed north through one of the new security checkpoints, and then take a series of escalators down two levels to hop on the underground train to their plane.
“The project itself is huge,” said Stu Williams, the airport’s senior vice president of special projects. “It’s going to be three or three and a half years of disruption, but we’ll manage. We’ve got to do this: The terminal is beautiful as it is today, but the flow is somewhat disorganized.
“When we’re done with this, the flow will be much better.”
The project is the keystone of a $1.8 billion public-private partnership deal for the Jeppesen Terminal that was struck last year with Great Hall Partners. That deal puts Madridbased Ferrovial Airports and Centennial-based Saunders Construction in charge of setting up the dominoes that will drive four construction phases between now and late 2021, when DIA estimates the renovation will be done.
The partnership deal also includes three decades of private oversight of expanded terminal concessions. Many of the new restaurants and retail outlets will be in a main-floor area (Level 5) that passengers will pass through between security and the train.
Unlike a concurrent $1.5 billion gate-expansion project that will affect all three concourses — mostly at their ends, out of travel- ers’ way — certain parts of the terminal project undoubtedly will inconvenience passengers. But not too much, DIA and project officials hope.
The first phase will start with a groundbreaking ceremony set for July 12.
Here is how project officials say the terminal project will play out. Phase 1: New middle ticket counters, concessions Timing: Now to summer 2019. Most-affected areas:
Middle third of Levels 5 and 6.
Work planned: Several airlines already have consolidated their ticket counters to the north and south sections on each side of the upper level in recent months in preparation for the most notable work: the removal and replacement of the against-the-wall counters with rectangular modules that will have check-in areas, including kiosks, on two sides.
“It’s almost like having small, little buildings inside the terminal,” Williams said.
To make space, workers will tear down walls and extend the “floor plate” of the upper level by about 30 feet into the atrium on both the east and west sides. On the upper and lower levels of the atrium, several fastfood joints, the post office and other concessionaires have closed down in preparation for the renovation of existing concession spaces and the addition of new ones. And downstairs, on Level 5, baggage offices will be reconfigured.
Crews also will get started on work that will last through multiple phases, including the addition of escalators geared toward future passenger flows and new bathrooms along exterior walls in several areas. The corridor leading to the A bridge — which will be past security once the new checkpoints are built — will be expanded on both sides to add airport offices and some services. What you’ll notice: Construction walls
will go up starting this week, especially surrounding the closed middle ticket counters. Though crossings above the terminal’s atrium will remain open, the northsouth pathways along the edge of each side will be closed off.
Great Hall Partners expects later this month to announce the operators of the first 10 new concession spaces, all anticipated to open by next May. They will include coffee stands, convenience shops, quickserve and sit-down restaurants, and a specialty retail outlet, a project spokeswoman said. Phase 2: Finishing redesign of check-in spaces Timing: Summer 2019 through early 2020. Mostaffected areas: Southern third of Levels 5 and 6.
Work planned: Airlines in the south sections of each side of the terminal — nearest the airport’s Westin hotel, which opened in 2015 — will make way for the modular reconfiguration of those check-in areas by relocating, either to the new positions in the middle or to the old counters in the north section.
The upper level’s floor plates will be extended into the atrium, and project workers will build out more new concession spaces on both levels, while other work started in Phase 1 continues. What you’ll notice: “Phase 2, from a passenger standpoint, will be easier in terms of flowing through the terminal,” Williams said. That’s in large part because the construction walls that go up around the south check-in areas and the walkways behind them will be less of an impediment to foot traffic. Phase 3: Big moves for security screening Timing: Early 2020 through the end of that year. Most-affected areas: Northern third of Levels 5 and 6.
Work planned: This phase is pivotal, and it will kick off with the final relocation of airlines in the old north check-in areas to the new modules in the south and middle. Crews will extend the north sections’ floor plates into the atrium to line up with the other sections and will build new security screening checkpoints for the federal Transportation Security Administration.
A project timeline calls for those new TSA checkpoints to open in October or November 2020. DIA officials are talking with TSA about buying screening equipment that reduces passenger wait times, but the conceptual security plan is the part of the project that has faced the most skepticism from airline representatives and the public.
Some travelers also have expressed disappointment at the impending loss of the A-bridge security option.
“By the time they’re done with both the queueing and screening space,” Williams said, “we’ll actually have more space than we do today, (though) I totally understand people having a hard time understanding how it will fit up there.”
What you’ll notice: Before the TSA move, passengers aren’t expected to face many roadblocks. But afterward, the initial transition to the new screening areas won’t be seamless. That’s because only after the move can workers install new escalators down to the lower level. Initially, passengers exiting security will take a more circuitous route to get to existing escalators down to the lower level, and then to the train. Phase 4: Big changes on the lower level Timing: Late 2020 through the end of 2021. Most-affected areas: North and south atrium areas of Level 5 and center crossings on Level 6.
Work planned: The final phase starts with the installation of escalators and elevators down from the new security checkpoints, but the focus is on reconfiguring the lower level after the old screening areas are gone.
On the south end, plans call for a welcome plaza at the entry from the transit center as well as seating, a children’s play area and concessions. The north end will be walled off to keep that area secure, and that is where Great Hall Partners will construct the bulk of the new post-screening food, retail and convenience offerings, with some built in earlier phases. Also planned at this end is a new welcome area for arriving and connecting international passengers.
Some critics have derided the north concessions plan as putting a mini-mall between security and the gates, but project officials have said passengers will be able to make a quick exit if they want. What you’ll notice: There will be construction noise and walls during this phase, but Williams said the airport would use signage to make it easy for passengers to find their way.