Long Beach Airport Director Mario Rodriguez has been in and out of airports more times than he'd like to say.
And no matter the airport, the experience is the same, he said.
"It's going through a concrete building, through a metal tube and another metal tube," said the Long Beach resident. "Everything feels the same."
So when Long Beach Airport embarked on its $140 million modernization project, which will include a new terminal and parking garage and upgrades to the aircraft ramps and facades, those involved sought something different.
Today, work is more than halfway done on the passenger concourse, which will feature two terminal buildings, and 4,200 square feet of outdoor seating with patios,
Jet Blue President and CEO
David Barger gets a tour of the Long Beach Airport expansion and renovation
project. (Scott Varley / Staff Photographer)
fire pits, cabanas, suspended lights and space for outdoor performances.
The new concourse will also include more than 10,000 square feet of new retail and restaurant space managed by The Paradies Shops, which is bringing in local vendors such as Polly's Coffee, Sweet Jill's Bakery, 4th Street Vine, George's Greek Cafe and second locations for Long Beach Clothing Co., which will be called 562 Experience, and McKenna's on the Bay, whose second restaurant will be named McKenna's on the Fly.
"Long Beach is such a special place, and this is going to reflect it, with outdoor dining and fire pits," Rodriguez said. "It's a whole different concept and feel, more of a resort feel. And it should be. We took the idea from resorts."
Studio One Eleven principal Michael Bohn, whose Long Beach firm was hired by Paradies to design the retail and outside space, said his team sought to capture the modern, crisp waterfront metropolis that is Long Beach, bringing in nautical features and taking advantage of the city's openness and outdoor living.
He also spoke of the Long Beach Marche, a high-end food court that will be modeled less like a cafeteria and more like an open market where passengers can wander through
Long Beach Calif. --07-09-12
- Long Beach Airport Director Mario Rodriguez with a illustration of what the
4th Street Vine dining lounge area will look like. It's all part of the Long
Beach Airport 's new $45 million passenger concourse, set to open in 2013.
(Stephen Carr / Staff Photographer)
self-serve islands of fresh food or head to food stations serving up Long Beach eats.
"What we're trying to do is make it a memorable and enjoyable place you would want to come to even if you weren't waiting for an airport," Bohn said.
Long Beach follows a national trend among airports in the midst of major renovations to remain competitive.
Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport recently opened its $1.4 billion terminal for international passengers. In Las Vegas, McCarran International Airport is opening its $2.4 billion Terminal 3. Los Angeles International Airport also is undergoing improvements.
Rodriguez said Long Beach's take on the concourse is different from other airports.
This outdoor area will be
part of the Long Beach Airport 's new $45 million passenger concourse, set to
open in 2013. (Stephen Carr / Staff Photographer)
"We don't believe that people are comfortable in huge, Taj Mahal spaces," Rodriguez said. "Resorts have comfortable spaces. You're going to get something you haven't gotten from another airport."
JetBlue CEO Dave Barger, who toured the construction site Friday, said he was impressed by the progress. He added that the improvements will benefit the bottom lines of JetBlue and other operators.
"From JetBlue's perspective, at altitude is where customers spend most of their time, but the battle is also won on the ground," Barger said. "People are looking at the price of their tickets, they're looking at the price of their parking, but also how well their ground experience is. This bodes well for our operations."
This artists rendering shows
what the outdoor area will look like in the Long Beach Airport's new $45 million
passenger concourse, set to open in 2013.
His Reaction was a far cry from 2009, when Barger suggested to an airline industry blogger that JetBlue might pull out of Long Beach because of delays in the terminal improvement project.
The project had been delayed for years as the city fought legal battles over the scale of the expansion and concerns about the potential increase in aircraft noise. Airport officials have maintained that current noise restrictions and a cap on the number of allowed daily flights will remain.
The new concourse is expected to be open in 2013, though the project is ahead of schedule and could be open earlier, Rodriguez said.
"Hopefully, we'll deliver a nice Christmas present," he said.
(Karen Robes Meeks - Long Beach Press Telegram)
1 comment:
Thanks Mike...Nice to see local articles like this that would otherwise pass unnoticed by those of us living elsewhere. I hope the new construction doesn't block the view of the old terminal from rampside. That is one of the great historic and architectural treasures of the west coast.
Phil
Post a Comment