June 19--The doorway to Onslow County is getting ready for improvements.
The Onslow County Board of Commissioners unanimously approved the maximum price for the new passenger terminal at Albert J. Ellis Airport Monday night.
The project is not to exceed $22,991,023, according to information from the county.
Of that, $20 million will be covered by FAA grants, $343,000 is from the state and $1.75 million is from fees on airline tickets and rental cars, according to Airport Director Chris White. The $900,000 remaining, he said, was borrowed by Onslow County and is being repaid by future facility charges and revenue.
The new 67,000-square-foot terminal will be two stories with second level boarding, White said. It will feature jet ways, or bridges, "so you'll be out of the elements" and improved technology.
The current building is approximately 35,000 square feet.
"We are way over capacity on this building today during peak travel times," White told The Daily News Tuesday.
Other features of the new terminal include:
-- New restaurant
-- New gift shop
-- Escalators
-- Improved Wi-Fi
-- Increased cell phone coverage
-- Newer security equipment
-- New, more comfortable seating
-- Larger changing rooms
The larger changing rooms are something Gabriella Eberle, 19, said would help area Marines be "able to changeover without scrunching in the bathroom."
Eberle graduated from the School of Infantry on Camp Geiger and, after graduation, she and about 20 other female Marines were dropped off at the airport to catch flights out.
Eberle and Isabelle Anastasi, 19, joked that at least multiple women could change in the handicapped stalls in the bathrooms while they waited to head to Atlanta and Pensecola, Fla.
Anastasi said that Albert J. Ellis was a small airport but "the food's good."
"It doesn't really have to be that big for this area. I wasn't expecting a big three-story airport," she said.
Balfour Beatty Construction Inc., of Raleigh, will serve as the project's construction manager at risk and will be on site to keep an eye on the project and guarantee that the price does not exceed the agreed upon $22.9 million.
"If something were to go wrong the construction manager at risk assumes the responsibility," White said.
White anticipates that the project will take 670 days from the time the notice to proceed is given. That is expected to happen in about two weeks.
Amanda Hickey is the government reporter at The Daily News and can be reached at [email protected].
Copyright 2013 - The Daily News, Jacksonville, N.C.
