May 17--PITTSTON TWP. -- Tearing down the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport's old terminal would cost $2.06 million, engineering firm Guzek Associates estimated.
The Bi-County Airport Board wants the demolition done before the end of the year, which Assistant Airport Director Michael Conner said is possible, although approvals from the state Department of Transportation and Federal Aviation Administration to move forward are pending.
If those approvals are granted, Conner said the demolition would be bid and PennDOT's Bureau of Aviation would pick up half of the cost.
The rest would come from a $2 million-plus fund that airport officials set aside for facilities. That account is funded by a passenger facility charge, which Conner said comes to about $4.50 per enplanement.
The old terminal opened in 1959 and closed in 2006, when the airport completed construction on the Joseph M. McDade Terminal.
"It's kind of an eyesore compared to the other, newer building we have," Conner said of the old tower. "It will open up additional options for parking as well if somebody determines that's the best thing to put there."
The airport's approximately 1,200 parking spaces are currently enough, Conner said, but "we still get pretty close some days."
Opening up the old terminal area to parking could allow employee parking to be relocated to that space, creating a couple hundred spots for customers in the employee lot, Conner suggested.
In other airport news, airport officials unveiled a new $233,719 "Quick Response Firefighting Vehicle they bought largely with state and federal grants after Thursday's board meeting.
The truck holds 300 gallons of water, 40 gallons of aqueous film forming foam and 500 pounds of dry chemical and replaces the airport's old version of the vehicle, which George Bieber, the airport's vice president of public safety, said is past its useful life.
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