Parking project delayed; terminal design moves ahead
Expansion is expected to add about 9,000 square feet, more gates to facility
While construction of new parking lots at the Santa Fe Regional Airport remains in a holding pattern following underground surprises, work on the terminal expansion inched forward Friday.
During a special meeting, the City Council approved a $70,000 initial contract — and up to $5 million in all — with Albuquerque architecture firm Molzen Corbin for design and architectural services on the second and third phases of the terminal expansion. Those phases are expected to add about 9,000 square feet and more gates to the facility.
The contract will be paid almost entirely with funds from the Federal Aviation Administration. The city receives about $1.6 million from the agency each year.
Airport Manager James Harris said Friday that December is still the target completion date for the first phase, which includes new parking lots and an initial terminal expansion — although details of the parking lot construction remain uncertain.
Progress on the lots slowed in March after workers found abandoned utility lines and cables underground. The discovery was unexpected because plans no longer exist for the space, Harris said.
“We have to relocate and ... it’s basically a new design because all the old stuff in there is from the ’50s and breaking apart,” he said. “We need to rebuild everything under the parking lot” and “it requires new plans to be approved.”
Harris said he did not know how much the changes would add to the initial Phase 1 price tag of $21.5 million or where the funding would come from, but said he has requested state funding.
The first phase of the airport project was originally scheduled for completion earlier this year, but in March,
city officials said completion was instead expected by the end of the year.
Molzen Corbin was the only company to respond to the city’s request for proposals for architecture and engineering services for the next phases.
Friday’s meeting was called specifically to approve the spending before Thursday, when about $65,000 of the federal funding, called passenger entitlement funds, would otherwise have reverted.
Councilor Chris Rivera expressed hope for a process change at the federal level that would allow the city to move faster on projects.
“This hasn’t changed in over 20 years,” Rivera said of the federal agency’s annual deadline. “Until we find a way to get through this a lot quicker that doesn’t involve special meetings and doing anything else differently, it’s going to be the same.”
Harris said in addition to phases two and three, the $5 million total funding will cover other capital projects at the airport, like runway improvements, ramp repaving and new LED lights.
Harris told councilors he would apply for new federal funds for airport projects that could pay back an initial city investment.
“The more we have planned, the more we put upfront, they will look at us more for funding,” he said. “Everything we spend now, whether it be from the general fund or the operating fund ... they will reimburse if they approve the grant.”