First Phase of Rapid City Airport Expansion Project Set To Move Forward

Dec. 6—Rapid City Regional Airport's expansion project is moving to the next phase, with construction plans set to be drawn up and bid on in the coming weeks, officials announced Monday.

"We take package one, which is the east side of the facility, and we do the design on that and get that ready for a biddable-package to be put on the street, hopefully to be able to fund and get bids going forward into the future," said Patrick Dame, airport executive director.

Planning and design firm Mead and Hunt presented its final schematic concept report to the Airport Board of Directors on Monday. The three-phase project will focus on expanding from seven to 12 gates, adding additional space in ticketing and baggage claim, and redesigning the security areas.

Phase one will focus on the ticket counters, the behind-the-scenes baggage handling and the TSA security checkpoint. Discussion remains around whether or not to eliminate the proposed front-half expansion of the ticketing area, with concerns based on funding and future expansion needs. Mead and Hunt's team said eliminating that section would negligibly reduce cost overall, but also provided several options to make use of the space if the airport decided not to include it.

"We're stomping on pennies while we're spending large dollars," Dame said in relation to the cost of that front-half area.

With an annual economic impact of about $300 million, he said the airport-wide upgrades are necessary to keep pace with the region.

"We don't want to be at a point where the airport is a hindrance to growth," he said. "If we can't get people through the TSA checkpoint, if we can't get their baggage out to the airplane, we become a hindrance to the growth of the community."

Board President Rod Pettigrew explained the board's meticulous questioning of each phase. He said Rapid City Regional is a community airport, and they want to serve the community well.

"You saw the dollar values today," he said. "It's huge. We just want the citizens of Rapid City to understand what we're doing [and] why we're doing it so they feel comfortable with it as well."

The Airport Board will meet again on Dec. 19, when members will address the front-half ticketing issue. Project documents indicate construction would likely begin in the summer of 2023.

Contact Darsha Dodge at [email protected].

___

(c)2022 Rapid City Journal, S.D.

Visit Rapid City Journal, S.D. at http://www.rapidcityjournal.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.