Aug. 28--Susquehanna Area Regional Airport Authority officials Wednesday awarded $7.8 million in contracts for engineering, design and services.
Of that, $1.7 million will go to removing the old terminal building at Harrisburg International Airport, according to an airport authority statement.
Officials awarded a $1,457,850 contract to Neuber Environmental Services of Phoenixville to demolish the old terminal. The company presented the lowest bid out of six submitted in June.
Another $256,800 contract went to Urban Engineers of Philadelphia for construction management. The company also did the design for the old terminal demolition, said Tim Edwards, Susquehanna Area Regional Airport Authority executive director.
The airport authority expects to use Federal Aviation Administration grant money for the project.
The old terminal been sitting empty since 2004 when the current terminal opened. SARAA has been looking to remove the building for several years.
The demolition of the building's exterior is set to begin in the spring of 2014, Edwards said. But the project's time line still is fluid since work can't begin until FAA grant paperwork is signed and returned.
Previously, airport officials also had hoped to include work razing the former Sunburst restaurant and the old barracks building in Lower Swatara Township in the project, as well as removing asbestos from an old Air Force administration building. Those items had been included as bid additives.
However, the Sunburst restaurant work wasn't eligible for FAA funding, because it's not on airport property, Edwards said. The other two projects won't be eligible for the FAA grant until the airport authority completes an airport master plan that shows the reuse of the property meets requirements for funding.
SARAA board members also approved an application to the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development to establish three parcels of HIA property as Keystone Opportunity Zones. These areas are the old terminal site, the former Bethlehem Steel property and the former Crawford Station property.
Copyright 2013 - The Patriot-News, Harrisburg, Pa.
