Key West Airport Cost $5 Million over Budget

Slow progress on the new passenger terminal at Key West International Airport has already frustrated county officials. Now an excessive estimated construction cost is driving them to look for a new contractor.

"As far as the construction is concerned, it went from $25 million to almost $30 million," Monroe County Airports Director Peter Horton said.

The county hired the Morganti Group out of West Palm Beach last October to act as architect, designer and construction manager for the terminal. The contract holds the company to a guaranteed maximum price. Once that price is met, the county has the right to accept or reject it.

"The GMP came in at $4.3 million above the budgeted $25 million," Horton said. "When you add the 15 percent onto that for constructions fees, it's close to $5 million over what the county budgeted."

Horton said he was negotiating with Morganti Tuesday, and if they were unable to reach agreement, he will ask the County Commission to again go out for bid on the project.

"The issue is not just price," he said, stepping out of negotiations to talk with the Keynoter Tuesday. "There are lots of other issues that are being discussed."

Including slow progress, he said.

"We were told work would start the first week in May and they started in August," Horton said. "Already they're 90 days behind schedule."

Construction woes seem to be plaguing the county in recent months.

Work on the proposed Murray E. Nelson Government and Cultural Center in Key Largo has been held up while the project goes back out for bid after the Tower Group came in with a bid of $12.5 million. The county had budgeted $8 million.

The Nelson project is still open for bids, according to the county's Engineering Department.

Another problem project has been the Freeman Justice Center in Key West. Begun in 1992 and projected to cost somewhere around $4 million, work continues on the future courthouse and officials expect it to run in the realm of $13 million before estimated completion in 2007.

In the meantime, Horton says passengers are the ones suffering at the airport.

"The inconvenience level is much higher than it was, and that's what drives me crazy," he said. "We have half the public parking, half the rental car space. Our ground transportation is squeezed into an area of less than half of what it was. And it just doesn't seem like there's much work going on."

Grants from the Federal Aviation Administration, the Florida Department of Transportation and passenger fees will all play a part in paying for the new terminal. In addition, the county will provide $5 million from its infrastructure sales tax.

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