On September 5, the City of Philadelphia Department of Aviation was joined by U.S. Senator Bob Casey Jr., U.S. Congresswoman Mary Gay Scanlon, U.S. Congressman Dwight Evans, State Representative Regina Young, Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Director David Fish, and City of Philadelphia Deputy Managing Director Transportation, Infrastructure, and Sustainability Michael Carroll to break ground on the next phase of Philadelphia International Airport’s (PHL) multi-year Restroom Renovation Program. Made possible by $39 million in Airport Terminal Program grant funds, this phase will add 13,000 square feet of additional restroom space including 35 new stalls across the airport. This phase will be the program's biggest, encompassing five separate phases (Phases 5 through 9) to reconstruct 30 restroom sets and build two new sets.
Attendees spoke on the impact of this work on the Greater Philadelphia region. Senator Casey said, “This is a good investment not only for this airport, but for all Southeastern Pennsylvania and for all the people who travel through
here throughout the country and the world to improve their experience while they are here. That’s what this investment is all about.”
Representative Young added, “Teamwork really does make the dream work. I applaud all of my colleagues at the federal, state, and city level and also my community partners. I too have children, and I would love to see a renovated updated lactation station. I am a daughter of aging parents, and things happen and there will come a time where you need extra support extra space to be able to care for yourself in a decent way. It’s projects like these that make us better understand why government can work and why people can work with government, and we can do some amazing things together for the people.”
Department of Aviation CEO Atif Saeed emphasized team collaboration to improve passenger experience. “Restrooms are one of the places just about every passenger ends up using on their travel through the airport. It is important that our restrooms accommodate all of our passengers. Amenities like permanent lactation suites, adult-assisted restrooms, gender-neutral restrooms, and service animal relief areas are all necessary to make passengers comfortable during their time at Philadelphia International Airport. Our Capital Development Group worked with members of our Facilities staff on design features that make for quick and easy clean up. We are working smarter through collaboration."
The groundbreaking is a major milestone marking it as a key component of PHL's Vision 2026, when Philadelphia will welcome visitors from all over the world for the FIFA World Cup tournament, the MLB All Star game, and the United States’ 250th anniversary.
