LAKE CLEAR — Dozens of locals and state officials gathered at the Adirondack Regional Airport on Thursday for a groundbreaking ceremony celebrating the coming start of a multi-million dollar renovation of the airport terminal.
The terminal building — where passengers get screened by the Transportation Security Administration and wait for flights, and where the public gathers at ADK CAVU Cafe — is set for major construction. The work will move the cafe to the opposite end of the building from where it currently is, demolish the portion of the building where the cafe is for a two-story office building, make numerous critical upgrades to the utilities, make the terminal compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act and finally give TSA workers windows in their office.
The work is being funded through a $8.5 million state grant and a $500,000 federal grant.
While the public will be excited for the visible improvements, Harrietstown Supervisor Jordanna Mallach is excited for improvements in the stuff underground — sewer pipes that don’t back up and an electrical system that works consistently.
Solar panels and heat pumps will reduce the airport’s energy costs. It will also make the building more accessible by removing small staircases in several parts of the building.
A community resource
Mallach brought an extra golden shovel to the event for attendees to sign, fulfilling her “scrapbooking fantasy.” After the ceremony, she brought the shovel to the cooks at CAVU Cafe, on a personal mission to make sure everyone who played a part got their signature on it. She plans to display the autographed shovel on a wall after the terminal is finished.
Outside, attendees ate airplane-shaped cookies and other baked goods from CAVU Cafe. The cafe got a lot of attention at the event. State and local officials said it’s a favorite breakfast spot and gathering place for locals, who have a lot of pride in its quality, reliability and coziness.
One of the key parts of the construction is the phased approach to the work to avoid disruptions to the cafe. The first phase will be to build the new cafe, with a larger kitchen and expanded seating area, on the opposite end of the building. Then, the demolition of the current cafe area will begin. Mallach said the work won’t disrupt passenger movement, though it might impact parking.
Airport Manager Corey Hurwitch said it was exciting, after years of work, to see state officials gathered for the groundbreaking on Thursday.
It took a lot of work to get to this point — from the town board, from the airport employees, from the town’s consultants and from the state.
The heart of the terminal was built in the 1950s. In the decades since, the town has added to and made upgrades to that building piece-by-piece.
The airport is a “huge resource” for the area, according to Mallach. It provides federal, municipal and private sector jobs for locals. People use it to fly to Boston and New York City for medical treatment, to see family and for vacation. It’s a landing place for visitors who come for big Tri-Lakes events.
Cape Air, an airline service, offers three commercial flights a day from SLK, with destinations in Boston and New York City. From these larger airports, people can get flight access to most of the rest of the world.
Hurwitch said private flights vary a lot day-by-day. Some days there could be no private flights. The April 8 total solar eclipse this year was the airport’s busiest day ever, he said, with 60 aircraft and a couple hundred being turned away.
DOT grant
State Department of Transportation Commissioner Marie Therese Dominguez said this investment has been a long-time coming. SLK is the only commercial airport in the Adirondacks, and a “gateway” for the region, she said.
“The cafe alone is worth the ride,” Dominguez said.
Her parents, from New Mexico, actually first met on a blind date at their local airport cafe, so she felt a connection to CAVU. She said it’s a place to enjoy pie and coffee while seeing “aviation at its finest.”
The project is largely funded through the DOT’s Upstate Airport Economic Development and Revitalization grant program. This is a competitive grant program, and after taking a “long shot” with an application in 2022, Harrietstown was awarded one of nine grants in that cycle.
Dominguez said Adirondack Regional competed well against the other airports, but she would not detail what set the airport apart from other applicants. She wanted to keep the formula secret. But she said even though it was one of smallest airports in the competition, SLK showed promise of a good investment. This was a rare grant that does not require any match from the town. Typically, grants would require a 5% to 10% match with local taxpayer money.
State Sen. Dan Stec said infrastructure isn’t terribly exciting, but everyone has high expectations for it to work properly.
State Assemblyman Billy Jones said on top of all the regular town business Harrietstown has, it is also in the unique position of running an airport. He said the town was doing a good job and recognized Hurwitch from his consistent lobbying in Albany for support.
TSA
Bart Johnson, the TSA’s federal security director for screening and security for 13 upstate airports, said TSA staff at Adirondack Regional are looking forward to actually having windows in their office.
SLK’s TSA Supervisor Zach Smith confirmed this. Their break room has windows, he said — but where he sits all day, looking at monitors, is completely closed off from the outside world. Still, Smith, originally from Plattsburgh, said he loves working at Adirondack Regional.
In 2022, Mallach told the Enterprise that the security area currently does not meet certain security specifications required by the Federal Aviation Administration. The area meets those specifications now after expanding with larger machines. But these larger machines cut into the post- TSA waiting area.
In the third phase of construction, this post- TSA waiting area will be expanded.
Plans and funding
Mallach said they’re contracting with mostly local companies for the work. The general contractor, Murnane Building Contractors, and mechanical contractor L. H. LaPlante are both from Plattsburgh; plumbing contractor Hyde-Stone is from Watertown; and electrical contractor Next Era is from North Lawrence. The work is anticipated to create 90 construction jobs.
The airport’s main design consultants, Rochester-based Passero Associates, have been with the project from the beginning.
The initial design concept was estimated at costing $16 million — twice the grant amount. So the plan was scaled back, focusing more on infrastructure than the look. Though there was discussion of potentially pulling money from the airport reserves earlier this year, the town eventually decided not to. It was not necessary, either, since last week, the town got an additional $500,000 grant from the FAA’s Airport Terminal Program, giving them a comfortable contingency budget.
The airport is in the midst of a state-mandated cleanup of the carcinogenic chemical PFAS, which has seeped into the ground around the airfield, the result of years of federally-required spraying of firefighting chemicals containing PFAS.
All the work done for this renovation project will need detailed plans for soil testing and disposal.
Timeline
Dominguez put on the pressure by saying the grand opening of the new terminal will come “sooner than we all think.” Stec upped the ante by adding the project will be “on time, and on budget.” Jones expounded on this by saying he heard the project would take only 10 months.
“No pressure Jordanna,” he said with a laugh.
Mallach replied, saying it will take “a little bit longer” than that. She said the actual substantial completion date is expected to be closer to the end of 2025.
Hurwitch said the construction timeline is still up in the air, as they are waiting on approval from state Department of Environmental Conservation to start. DEC has to review every piece of material and all the planned work.
Mallach said the town is working with the Tri-Lakes and Franklin County snowmobile clubs to improve the existing connector trail to Adirondack Rail Trail.
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