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Airport design on the table
NewsHerald - March 21, 2008

By Daniel Carson - News Herald Writer

FREEPORT
— Panama City-Bay County International Airport Authority members on Thursday got an update on the design of the new airport’s terminal building.

During a board workshop, authority members viewed a presentation from Washington, D.C.-based HNTB Architecture Inc., which took over
design work for several new airport facilities last year.

Airport Authority Chairman Joe Tannehill and other board members asked HNTB officials to look into possible changes in the facilities’ exterior color and make the new airport’s public safety building more compatible, design-wise, with other structures.

Tannehill said he liked the “people flow” design of the terminal better than the previous work done by Bechtel Infrastructure.

He and other board members asked HNTB officials to consider a different exterior color for the terminal and other buildings, with Tannehill, Rick Koehnemann and Andy McKenzie objecting to the gray color proposed by the firm.

“I’d like it to be a little lighter than what was shown,” Tannehill said after the meeting.

airport

Contributed photos Top, this is how the exterior of the new Panama City-Bay County International Airport could look when it opens in 2010. Airport Authority members viewed a presentation on the facility Thursday from Washington, D.C.-based HNTB Architecture Inc., which took over design work for several new airport facilities last year. Bottom, interior is shown.

The architectural firm has been talking to the airport authority on a monthly basis regarding new airport design work, Tannehill said.

The chairman said the airport and HNTB were looking to get terminal building costs down and improve its environmental aspects.

Tannehill said the last estimate for the about 100,000-square-foot terminal building was $33 million.

“We expect to come in under that,” Tannehill said.

HNTB project manager Scott Steckler said new design elements included a move from floor-to-ceiling windows to “strip-type” windows on the terminal’s north and south sides.

Steckler said the strip-type windows still would allow for full views from the terminal.

There also are plans to plant trees indigenous to Florida around the terminal building, Tannehill said.

“It’s going to look like Florida when people get off the plane,” Tannehill said.

HNTB should report back to the board within 30 days on recommended changes made Thursday, Tannehill said.

In related news, Tannehill said groundwork at the new airport’s West Bay site was proceeding on schedule.

He said the new airport is scheduled to open in the second quarter of 2010.

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