Mar. 31—Major renovations at the Quad Cities International Airport are about to take off.
Plans for $20 million to $40 million in large-scale improvements and upgrades were announced Tuesday, with construction set to begin this summer. A service contract with the architectural firm Alliiance, of Minneapolis, was approved in January 2020 for the overall design of the airport, which handled more than 700,000 passengers in 2019 and has 1,390 employees.
It will be the first major investment in the airport since 2001. The renovations will take three to five years to complete, said Ben Leischner, executive director for the Quad Cities International Airport. Construction of outdoor patio areas with seating is already underway.
"In the heartland of America, you can truly go anywhere, and we are proud to be the front door to the Quad-Cities," Leischner said.
Interior plans include widened walkways in the ticketing area with additional check-in kiosks; baggage screening equipment will be moved out of sight with a conveyor belt running behind the ticket counters to speed up the check-in process; the TSA security checkpoint will be widened; restrooms will be renovated with the addition of two family restrooms and two nursing suites; and lounge seating and power sources will be added throughout the concourses.
The ticketing area has not been upgraded since 1985.
Exterior upgrades will include covered parking with solar panels; adding a canopy to the curbside drop-off area; and an indoor/outdoor viewing space and garden area near baggage claim that includes a water feature that will mimic the Mississippi River. Both spaces will have seating for visitors to watch airplanes take off and land.
But the first changes came Tuesday. The airport's name has been changed to Quad Cities International Airport from "Quad City," the website has been redesigned and a new logo was unveiled showing the outline of an airplane within the image of a compass in the colors of blue and orange.
"Now is the time to refresh the airport in name, look and space," Leischner said. "Updating our look and refining our messaging allows us to communicate with our travelers more effectively, leave a positive impression and ultimately influence Quad Citizens to choose the Quad Cities International Airport as the first step in every venture, big or small."
Leischner said the renovations would be funded through a mix of federal grants, cash-on-hand and debt service, if necessary.
"We are in a very strong financial position as an airport, largely due to support from Congress this last year," Leischner said.
U.S. Rep. Cheri Bustos, D- Moline, said she passed through the airport frequently on her trips back and forth from Washington, D.C., and that the airport had received about $11 million in COVID-19 relief funding. She said the best way to rebuild the country after the pandemic was to invest in infrastructure.
"What we're talking about in the future here is making sure the Quad Cities International Airport is as strong as it can possibly be," Bustos said. "It's got the leadership in place that it needs, and I'm happy to be a partner."
Jodi Fisk, chairman of the Metropolitan Airport Authority of Rock Island County, credited Leischner for his "incredible leadership and incredible vision" since joining the airport in 2018 and thanked airport staff for providing world-class service to travelers.
"On behalf of the board of commissioners, we are all thrilled to be part of today's announcement," Fisk said.
Dave Herrell, president and CEO of Visit Quad Cities, said the vision for the Quad Cities as a destination "is to garner world-wide attention."
"In order to do that, you need a world-class airport," Herrell said. "You need an airport to thrive and be vibrant because it's part of our story — it's part of our brand. It's an economic jet engine; it's something that really should be this high-quality sense of place. It's so much more than just a pass-through.
"Hopefully the community will rally behind this as we all work together to realize the potential of this regional asset."
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