Cleveland Hopkins Airport Enters Next Phase in Terminal Modernization Development Program

Cleveland Airport Systems has engaged Paslay Group to provide Executive Program Management services to assist in planning, implementing, and delivering the city’s forthcoming Terminal Modernization Development Program. The work focuses on major upgrades of CLE’s 1950s-era main terminal and concourses, improved ticketing/check-in space and expanded security checkpoint. The program also includes improved roadways, a ground transportation center, an increase in the number of walkable public parking spaces, a consolidated rental car facility, and improved transit system accessibility and convenience.

The airport is expected to hire a design firm next year to formalize plans for the new terminal and begin early construction-related efforts in 2025 – the centennial anniversary of CLE. The airport opened in 1925 as the first city-owned airport in the United States.

PG’s Executive Program Management Division will lead the CLE engagement and has partnered with Corgan, a nationally recognized architecture and design firm, and Connico, which specializing in cost estimating, scheduling, and phasing for airports across the U.S., to deliver the program. The EPM team includes Cleveland-based firms Robert P. Madison International, which will provide design services; Van Auken Akins Architects, which also will assist with design; McGuiness Unlimited, Inc., which will provide project controls support; and Regency Construction Services, Inc., providing cost estimating and scheduling services.

“We are pleased to partner with the Paslay Group as an essential next step in the planning effort toward implementation of our Terminal Modernization Development Program, said Bryant L. Francis, C.M., Director of Port Control, who oversees Cleveland Hopkins International Airport. "The Paslay team has demonstrated expertise in advising executive airport leadership on numerous large-scale terminal programs nationwide and is well positioned to assist us in this endeavor.

“Our commitment remains focused on engagement with our airline partners concerning all elements of the proposed program. It will transform the customer experience by modernizing our aging facilities and 

increasing operational efficiency, representing a tremendous public benefit while generating greater local economic impact.”

The CLE EPM team will be supported by R. Clay Paslay, Paslay Group CEO and managing partner; Paul Blue, PG EPM division president and partner; Paslay Group Partner Mark Skjervem; and Paslay Group Principal Jim Bennett, each of whom has extensive experience as an airport executive and consultant to complex, capital development programs. The team will be led by Terry Cassidy, a PG Principal who served for five years as the firm’s Executive Program Manager for the $1.5 billion Build KCI Terminal Modernization Program, which opened in February 2023.

“Paslay Group welcomes this extraordinary opportunity to support the City of Cleveland and the Department of Port Control executive leaders as they begin to transform one of the region’s essential engines of economic development,” Blue said. “Our firm comprises airport development professionals with extensive experience and a passion for helping our clients translate their vision into action. We look forward to helping Cleveland develop beautiful and efficient airport facilities with the highest regard for customer service.”

CLE is expected to serve 10 million passengers in 2023, returning to pre-pandemic activity levels. It is the primary airport serving Greater Cleveland and Northeast Ohio and the largest and busiest airport in the state. The airport is 9 miles southwest of Downtown Cleveland and adjacent to the Glenn Research Center, one of NASA's 10 major field centers.