New Terminal at Bob Hope Airport Would Be Two-thirds Larger Than Old One
Oct. 14--The new terminal planned for Bob Hope Airport would be as much as 68% larger than the existing facility, officials said.
The replacement terminal would be 355,102 square feet, compared with 210,599 square feet in the existing terminal, according to information presented to the Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority last week. The new terminal would have the same number of gates as the current one: 14.
Dan Feger, the airport's executive director, said the size of the new terminal might eventually be reduced, but the current square footage will be used in the project's environmental impact study, which is slated to begin before the end of the year.
The existing terminal is 80 years old and would be demolished after the completion of a new terminal to create more space between it and the taxiways.
Airport officials say a new terminal is needed because the existing building is too close to the runways -- 250 feet instead of the 750 feet required by Federal Aviation Administration safety standards.
With 144,503 square feet of additional space, the new terminal would provide such things as better accessibility for the disabled, more and larger restrooms, larger waiting areas, expanded security screening areas and more spacious baggage claims.
The proposed terminal would include more publicly usable space because some of the airport authority's functions, which take up 13,000 square feet, would be moved to another building on the airport property.
Feger said moving some of the authority's administrative operations out of the proposed terminal makes sense.
"Why not minimize the size and cost of the terminal building," he said. "Money is a big deal here. It's a pretty expensive building. We're not making the building just to make it big."
Feger said that in a best-case scenario, the project would go before Burbank voters in summer 2015. Measure B, passed by local voters in 2000, requires voter approval before a new terminal can be constructed.
If approved, the replacement terminal would be completed in five to seven years.
"If the stars and moon all line up, this is the most optimistic time that it takes to put all the funding in place," he said.
Funding will probably come from selling a 58-acre lot the airport owns, known as the "opportunity site," as well as from the federal government.
The airport authority will continue to seek public input about its plans for a replacement terminal and the opportunity site at town hall meetings slated for Oct. 29 at Burbank City Hall, 275 E. Olive Ave., and Nov. 14 at the Burbank Community Services Building, 150 N. 3rd St. Both meetings will begin at 6 p.m.
More information about the proposed terminal and the upcoming meetings can be found on the airport's website, bobhopeairport.com.
Copyright 2013 - Los Angeles Times
