GRAND RAPIDS -- Now that they're over the sticker shock, Gerald R. Ford International Airport officials are finding ways to cut costs of a planned $138 million parking ramp.
The airport board Monday voted to trim $3.4 million from the project without substantially changing the appearance of the four-story ramp or the curved glass-and-steel canopy that connects it to the terminal.
Among the cuts: $600,000 by not staining the underside of each parking level; nearly $1 million by burying utilities without underground retaining walls; $187,000 by using more asphalt instead of concrete.
Construction is expected to begin this month.
This week, the airport expects to close the short-term parking lot, just north of the terminal and open a smaller short-term lot on the southeast side.
Airport officials started looking for cuts after the minimum construction bid from Lansing-based Christman Co. came in nearly $14 million higher than expected -- at nearly $118 million.
The ramp would add 4,000 parking spots and feature a canopy roof with a shape similar to the roof on the downtown DeVos Place convention center.
